
Class _2EiM 
Book - ( J 2. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 




H. W. CAMPBELL 



CamphelVs 1907 
Soil Culture Manual 



A Complete Gutde to Scientific Agriculture as 
Adapted to the Semi-Arid Regions. 

BY 
H. W. CAMPBELL. 



The proper fitting of the Soil for the Conservation 
and Control of Moisture and the Development 
of Soil Fertility; How Moisture Moves in the Soil 
by Capillary Attraction, Percolation and Evapor- 
ation; the Relation of Water and Air to Plant 
Growth, and how this may be Regulated by 
Cultivation. :::::::::::; 



Fifth Thousand 



Price $2.50 

The Campbell Soil Culture Co. (Inc.) 

Lincoln, Nebr. 
U. S. A. 



^ 



Copyrighted 1909 by H. W. Campbell 
Lincoln, Neb. 



The Woodruff-Collins Press 

Printers and Binders 

Lincoln, Neb. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CODies Received 

MAY 4 IW 

-, OopyriKnt entry ^ 
ClASS A- >^^c. NOt 



CONTENTS. 

PASE 

Introduction 5 

How to Use the Manual 15 

The Ideal Farmer 19 

True Basis of Prosperity 24 

Small Farms; Better Farming 28 

A Look Into the Future 32 

The Disk Harrow 37 

Plowing 44 

Sub-Surface Packiag 58 

Summer Culture of the SoU 75 

Physical Condition of the Soil 91 

Soil Fertility 99 

Water Holding Capacity of the Soil 107 

Importance of Air in the Soil Ill 

Percolation, or Getting Water into the Subsoil , 117 

Evaporation 123 

Advantages of the Semi-Arid Region 130 

Cultivation of the Soil 137 

Barnyard Manures 148 

•Corn Growing , 156 

Growing Wheat 175 

Growing Potatoes 197 

Trees on the Farm 204 

Sugar Beet Growing 218 

Alfalfa 226 

Seeking New Arid Plants 232 

Irrigation : 235 

Arboriculture 241 

Soil Mulch or Dust Blanket 247- 

Getting Most out of the Farm 251 

Practical Results of the Campbell System 255 

Winter Killing of Grain 263 

Stooling of Grain 266 

Quantity of Seed per Acre 270 

The Inevitable Dry Seasons 273 

Domain of Scientific Soil Culture 276 

Progress in Agricultural Science 279 

Crops, Markets and Prices 282 

World-Wide fame of this Work 286 

Good Farming and Good Morals 293 

Profit of Scientific Soil Culture 296 

Correspondence and Comment ' 298 

Tools for the Farm .302 

Some History of the Movement 305 

Oorrespondence Course in Soil Culture 311 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

H. T^ . Campbell Frontispiece 

Montana Wheat Field Near Great Falls 12 

Burlington Model Farm near Holdrege 16 

Feasting Time, Colorado Melons 21 

Corn in Colorado 90 Miles East of Denver 25 

Campbell System Vegetables 29 

Montana Wheat Without Irrigation 34 

Following Harvester with the Disk 39 

Showing Soil as the Plow Leaves It 46 

Surface of Soil Harrowed without Sub-packing 47 

Showing Soil as the Packer Leaves It 60 

Showing Soil After Packing and Harrowing 63 

The Sub-Surface Packer 64 

D3\relopnient of Roots in Firm Soil 65 

Root Development in Loose Soil 67 

Germination of Wheat in Different Soils 68 

Summer Culture vs. Summer Fallow 76 

Water Holding Capacity of Soils Illustrated , 108 

Heavy Rain Crust, and How Broken Up 113 

Effect of Shutting Out the Air 115 

Capillary Attraction Illustrated 118 

How Water is Stored in the Soil 119 

A Modern Manure Spreader 154 

Dev^elop xient of Corn Roots. 165 

Corn&eld by Campbell System in North Dakota 167 

Pomeroy Farm. Corn in very Hot Season 171 

Wheat in Three Stages of Growth 179 

Seeding with Different Kinds of Drills 182 

Growth of Listed Wheat 184 

Effect of Different Depths of Seeding 185 

Harvesting Wheat Fifty Years Ago 188 

Eastern Colorado Wheat 190 

Wyoming Wheat in the Dry Country 191 

Pomeroy Farm 1904 Wheat Crop 193 

Germination of Wheat in Different Soils 194 

Root Development with Shallow Cultivation 198 

Deep Cultivation and Root Development 200 

Magnified Roots and Soil 201 

Peach Tree Five Month= Old, Pomeroy Farm 207 

Peach Tree 17 Months After setting 210 

Wliite Elm 17 Months After Planting 215 

Thinning Sugar Beets 218 

Forty Acre Beet Field 219 

Modern Beet Sugar Factory 221 

Sugar Beets in North Dakota by Campbell Method 223 

J. Sterling Mortor., Father of Arbor Day 242 

A Prairie Park, 1 rbor Lodge 243 

Arbor Lodge, Heme oi Secretary Morton - 244 

Arbor Lodge Trees 245 

Soil Mulch and Dust Blanket Before Rain 248 

Soil Mulch and Dust Blanket After Rain 249 

Sorghum by Thorough Cultivation 257 

Growth and Stooling of Grain. . 267 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Agricultural industry is undergoing in these opening 
years of the Twentieth century a most wonderful develop- 
ment in the direction of that perfection of method and 
practical application of scientific principles which has been 
the hope and inspiration of thoughtful students of agri- 
culture through ages. 

That which is being wrought out by workers, by stu- 
dents, by thinkers, by investigators in all branches of ag- 
riculture — in plant breeding, in domestic animal industr}^, 
in crop diversification, in planting, and harvesting, and 
marketing — goes directly to the final solution of the essen- 
tial problems connected with production. 

Farming methods of the past century were those of 
preceding years; the methods of our century are to be 
those of the next thousand years. 

This does not mean that our forefathers did not know 
anything about farming, nor that what they did was all 
wrong, nor that they failed to solve the problems of their 
day and age. It does not mean we are on the verge of 
revolution and are about to overturn old methods and 
adopt entirely new ones all round. But with the more 
varied needs of mankind as civilization becomes more 
complicated, and the proportionate narrowing of our fields 
as we approach the limit of tillable area, the new and com- 
plicated problems are to be met only by the putting to- 
gether of many heads and the accumulation of much 



6 CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

wisdom. The strides we are making just now are beyond 
those of other days. We are in position to take advan- 
tage of the accumulation of evidence and to discover the 
truth that shall endure. 

The reader will not find in the pages of this Soil Cul- 
ture Manual a universal guide to success in farming. But 
he will find something here that will be of immense value 
to him if he but has the patience and industry to master 
the principles and is willing to give a fair trial to the 
methods which are here described for the treatment of 
soils. It is presented with a confidence born of years of 
investigation and experiment, and of success in many 
seasons of adverse conditions spread out over many states 
with soil and climate as different as it is possible to have. 

This Soil Culture Manual has to do with just one sub- 
ject, or rather one branch of agriculture, but it so hap- 
pens that this lies at the very foundation of all agricul- 
ture. Production is the end and aim of all farming. Pro- 
duction is possible only where soil conditions are right, 
for no matter what may be the climate or the extent of 
cultivation, there cannot be crops if there is not fertility 
available in the soil. Available fertility may exist, under 
most favored conditions, where there has been no culti- 
vation; but it is more often true that fertility comes from 
conditions brought about by cultivation done intelligently. 

This handling of the soil with a view to the devel- 
opment of available fertility is Scientific Soil culture. 

It is my purpose to present in this Manual the re- 
sults of years of labor in this field. ' I desire to treat a com- 
plicated subject with plainness and frankness. Here is 
material for a discourse filled with scientific terms, but I 
shall try to be so plain that everyone may know all about 
it. I shall give something of the history of the develop- 



Campbell's soil culture manual 7 

ment of what has come to be known in a dozen or more 
states as the Campbell system of soil culture; shall tell 
why and how I came to make the investigations which 
led up to this; shall discuss freely the principles which 
lie at the foundation; shall tell what has been accom- 
plished and what may be expected; and I shall give here 
instructions as to how to apply these principles as nearly 
complete as possible. 

In previous editions of the Manual, and in various 
other publications and in public addresses, commencing 
a dozen years ago, I have insisted that science in soil cul- 
ture and the more perfect adaptation of scientific methods 
to farming would result in doubling the crops in the great 
semi-arid belt of America. In later years I have made 
the statement still stronger and have declared, to the 
amazement of some of the doubting ones, that crops have 
not been one-fourth what they should have been^in this 
region. It is because I have had faith in this region and 
have been confident that crops could be made as certain 
here as elsewhere, that I have pursued investigations, 
often under the most discouraging conditions and in the 
face of fierce opposition, and it is in the hope that I may 
convince others, not a few but thousands, that I publish 
this Manual. 

While the investigations which have resulted in the 
development of this system of soil culture have been car- 
ried on in the semi-arid belt, or that region where the rain- 
fall is too small for successful farming in the ordinary 
way, it should be understood at the outset that the prin- 
ciples are applicable anywhere and in any climate, and 
that even where there is an excess of moisture, those who 
make use of the system will achieve results of great value. 
The difficulties to be overcome by the farmer in assuring 



8 Campbell's soil culture manual 

good crops are so pronounced in this semi-arid region that 
it seems specially fitted for development of the very highest 
type of agricultural science; but everywhere the problems 
are much the same, and having shown the way to success 
here, the way will be much easier elsewhere. There is 
hardly a section of the United States that can be said to 
be free from the danger of crop failure by reason of the 
irregular distribution of the rainfall. The season of 
drouth, or weeks of dryness perhaps sandwiched between 
other weeks of excessive rainfall, are common to all re- 
gions. In showing how to overcome the danger which 
is ever present in the semi-arid region we have also shown 
how to avoid the danger which comes occasionally in any 
farming country. The system therefore is of universal 
application. If in discussing it solely in relation to the 
problems of the semi-arid region I seem to ignore this 
larger truth, it is not because it is not well understood. 

I also admonish the reader not to take fright of the 
subject because it appears to be ponderous and uninter- 
esting. The term, ''scientific soil culture,'' may seem 
heavy, but I assure you that when once you have grasped 
the principles here made use of, the study will become 
the most fascinating imaginable. Other branches of ag- 
riculture are attractive to intelligent persons. Consider 
what has been achieved in stock breeding, in adaptation 
of breeds to certain purposes, in bringing about perfec- 
tion in the domestic animals; then observe what has been 
done in the production of the improved varieties of vege- 
tables and fruits, and in creation of marvelously beautiful 
flowers; all the result of applying the genius of man to 
intelligent direction of the resources of nature — and in 
the special line of scientific treatment of the soil to secure 



Campbell's soil culture manual 9 

a variety of results there is just as much opportunity for 
original research. The flower garden does not contain all 
the wonders 

I present this Manual to the public with greater con- 
fidence than' its predecessors, because the evidence has 
been accumulating that the secret of success in the semi- 
arid region lies in proper fitting of the soil. To the evi- 
dence which has come directly "from the numerous exper- 
imental farms that have been handled under my personal 
direction has been added the testimony of scores of farmers 
who have followed more or less imperfectly the directions 
contained in previous editions of the Soil Culture Manual. 
Along with this is the more important fact that every- 
where in the states most affected there has come to be 
general recognition of the vital truths of the system and 
there is such a unamimous interest in the whole subject 
that it is no longer necessary to beg for a hearing. I have 
greater confidence also from the fact that all the time I 
have been learning more and more about the subject, have 
been developing my own ideas and dissipating my own 
doubts, until I feel sure that what I am here to present 
has far greater merit than anvthing which has preceded. 
I have not done with experiments nor have I satisfied my- 
self that I have reached the very best possible results, 
but I do know that I have gone a long way toward perfect- 
ing a system through which the forces of nature may be 
made to serve man at all times. 

It is not intended that this Soil Culture Manual shall 
contain any simple code of imperative rules to govern 
3 very act of the farmer in his culture of the soil. The 
nature of the subject forbids this. What must be done 
Is to give the inquirer a clear statement of general prin- 
ciples, with simple directions for applying the same under 



10 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

many varied conditions, and to explain the reason for 
doing certain things — then to leave it to the intelligent 
direction of the farmer to do the rest. These general 
principles relate to soil physics, to the character of the 
soil, the texture of the soil, the movement of moisture 
in the soil, the development of soil fertility or those ele- 
ments essential to plant growth, and what can be done 
and must be done by cultivation to affect the quantity 
and quality of the crop. One who comprehends clearly 
these principles and labors with the knowledge that is in 
him, will find the way to profitable agriculture. 

There can be no universal rule for the cultivation of 
the soil. Conditions are so different that there must be 
variation. Everyone knows that drainage is necessary 
to some soils in some climates. It is not so well under- 
stood that where the rainfall is insufficient there can 
be conservation of the moisture by cultivation. Neither 
is it generally known that by and through cultivation of 
the soil there is brought about great changes in the phys- 
ical condition so that soils having but little available fer- 
tility may be strengthened and others burdened with 
plant elements are modified. Some important general 
rules may be applied, however, in the semi-arid region, 
so that they may be followed with assurance that there 
will be conservation of moisture and development of plant 
elements and the consequent growth of crops equal to 
those grown in the more humid regions of the country. 

It ought not to be difficult for any one to recall facts 
and incidents which have come under his personal ob- 
servation tending to prove the main arguments in sup- 
port of our position. Take, for instance, the very common 
incident of a large plant growth occurring right where 
there had been the previous winter a large drift of snow^ 



Campbell's soil culture manuai 11 

lodged behind a windbreak in the field. The average 
farmer will readily explain it all by a statement that 
where the snow piled up on the ground it gave a certain 
protection to the grain, and that it acted like a blanket 
to preserve the grain from harm, thus assuring a better 
stand of the grain. But this explanation fails to explain. 
It does not get at' the real truth. But investigation will 
show that the snow melted gradually in the spring, and by 
this slow melting process the water was able to percolate 
into the soil so that the moisture reached a great depth, 
and that this moisture was stored deep in the soil as in a 
reservoir, that later in the season, when the hot days came 
and evaporation was rapid from the surface, this stored 
moisture was supplied to the roots of the plants so that 
they kept on growing at a time when other plants in 
the field were checked in growth by the drouth. The soil 
conditions were different beneath the snow drifts. There 
was an abundance of moisture and it was deep in the soil. 
By capillary movement of the water at the right time, and 
having an inexhaustible supply of water at the source, 
the plants were supplied with what they needed, and 
growth was perfect, regardless of the climatic conditions 
which prevailed. 

The incident is a valuable lesson in the storage and 
conservation of moisture in the soil, and the matter of 
the production of the proper physical condition in the 
soil to secure best results. 

In the pages of this Manual it will be shown that the 
results which followed this accidental development of 
proper soil conditions may be duplicated on whole fields 
and that what was done by the chance piling up of the 
snow behind a fence or hedgerow has shown us what can 
be done in a larger way by cultivation in the right way 



12 Campbell's soil culture manual 

and at the right time. It will be shown that it is abso- 
lutely necessary, in regions where the rainfall is scant, 
that there shall be this storage of the water in the soil 
and conservation of the water so that there is no waste. 
The greater amount of water that can be stored in such 
a way that it will be used when needed, not only storage 
before the crops are planted but storage during the grow- 




MONTANA WHEAT 

Field forty-five miles southeast of Great Falls. Wheat 
grown Without Irrigation. 

ing season, and the greater success had in so cultivating 
the ground as to save all this moisture for the use of the 
plant while growing, the better will be the results. 

But aside from mere storage of the water there must 
be ever kept in mind this fact that both the cultivation 



Campbell's soil culture manual 13 

and the storage of the water are for the purpose of pro- 
ducing a proper physical condition of the soil. The soil 
must be in such condition that there will be the greatest 
development of roots. There must be development of 
roots and these roots must be able to take from the soil 
the elements of plant growth. There must be available 
fertility. The time comes nearly every season, in almost 
every climate, when there is severe drouth for a few days; 
and unless the roots are properly developed in good soil, 
disaster comes to the growing plants. It is not uncom- 
mon to find that the apparently fine growth of weeks is 
withered by a day or two of extremely dry and hot weather. 
Such could not be the case if the plant was prepared for 
such an emergency. The essential thing is to have the 
moisture available, to have the soil condition such as 
to develop good roots, and then drouths can be defied. 

If the reader is interested in irrigation, then let it be 
borne in mind that the principles which are here applied 
are applicable as well to irrigated land. We have no 
doubt that much that is here written will be found espec- 
ially useful to irrigation farmers — the moisture and its 
relation to soil fertility, the movement of moisture in the 
soil, the part played by air and other elements in the soil, 
and the general principles regarding fertility. 

This book is offered to the intelligent and progressive 
farmers of the great west. And this term ''the great west^' 
has come to have a new meaning to very many in recent 
years. It is indeed the land of great possibilities. We 
have never more than half appreciated it in the past. It 
is a region which, under application of true scientific 
principles in the cultivation of the soil, is destined to be 
covered with counllesfe homes of happy American fami- 
lies, with. cities and towns prosperous and growmg. May 



14 Campbell's soil culture manual 

God speed the day when the people will realize that these 
vast plains were not intended to be mere grazing lands 
for the few cattle companies, but that they will give sup- 
port to many small herds and flocks cared for by many 
men, and that all the grass and cereals of the best agri- 
cultural regions of the earth will be grown here in abun- 
dance. 

Ours is an age of progress in many lines. We are 
witnessing almost miracles in industrial and commercial 
life. Those of us who are devoted to the noblest calling 
of all should not be behind our neighbors in taking up 
with all that is good among the new things of the century. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 15 



CHAPTER II. 



HOW TO USE THE MANUAL. 

Complete mastery of the principles governing scien- 
tific soil culture is essential to success in practical field 
work. 

These are the steps likely to be followed by one who 
will achieve highest success: Honest inquiry into the 
merits of the system, study of the question with mind 
divested of all prejudice, courage to apply the principles 
regardless of the influence of wrong outside teaching or 
influences, study over and over again of all that is here 
laid down in regard to handling the soil, intelligent ap- 
plication to conditions as they may be found affected 
by local influences. 

One who takes up this Manual deeply or even slightly 
prejudiced against all things new and disposed to scoff 
at or criticise all teaching that does not have the recom- 
mendation of age, will make no headway. Honest doubts 
will not stand in the way, if the mind is free to accept 
the truth no matter who reveals it. But at a time when 
the most eminent students of agriculture throughout the 
world are admitting that their views are undergoing 
rapid changes, and when there is everywhere a passion 
for new things, new plants, new machinery, new methods 
— no man should be found disputing the conclusions of 
practical experience. 

Then there must be not only courage to go right out 
into the fields and do the things which must be done for 



16 Campbell's soil culture manual 

success, but a desire to see true principles fairly tried. 
Sometimes the farmer starts out bravely to adopt scien- 
tific soil culture, but then he comes up against something 
that appears to be contrary to the teachings of his father 



BURLINGTON MODEL FARM. 

Crop of Wheat at Holdrege, Neb. in 1906, yielding 51 J bu. 
per acre testing 64 lbs. 

or grandfather or a neighbor, and he resolves upon such 
a variation that he undoes all he has accomplished. 

But the danger to the novice lies chiefly in his failure 
to study the method enough. He must know it well. 
The principles of scientific soil culture must be grounded 



Campbell's soil culture manual 17 

deep within him. He must be saturated with the subject. 
It must become part of his being, and this can only be ac- 
complished by going over the subject many times and 
mastering every detail, always guarding against a wrong 
understanding of a seemingly minor question, 

V The professional man prepares himself for his voca- 
tion by long study of the books in which are laid down the 
general principles of his profession or science. The law- 
yer cons the big books which contain nothing but common 
sense principles. The engineer or architect or draughts- 
man spends months in special study of very simple prin- 
ciples. So also in this science or profession. 

The vital point is ability to understand the soil, its 
relation to air and water and their combined relation 
to plant life, and the processes of development of soil 
fertility, so that the farmer may comprehend fully the 
effect of various conditions, and the further fact that he 
himself can by cultivation control these elements; just 
what, when and how certain work should be done, what 
to guard against and what to encourage, and what 
results to reasonably expect. 

The Manual must be studied well. It would be impos- 
sible to put into a whole library detailed instructions 
as to every phase of soil culture, adapted to every pos- 
sible condition that might be encountered; but herein is 
laid down general principles from which the intelligent 
farmer can gain an understanding of what should be done. 
The Manual should be studied every month in the year, 
and while crops are growing it will pay to consult it every 
day. 

To further assist the student in grasping all the many 
principles and details in scientific soil culture we have 
prepared a correspondence course of twelve lessons through 



18 Campbell's soil culture manual 

which a full understanding of all the points may be reached. 
There is no subject today the full knowledge of which 
means so much to the farmer as how to get the most out 
of his soil, for it is the key to his prosperity and happiness. 
Anyone interested in a thorough course can learn all par- 
ticulars by addressing H. W. Campbell, at Lincoln, Nebr. 
There is so much to be made known on the subject that 
the farmer will not be able to get it all in one book or 
in one year. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 19 



CHAPTER III, 



THE IDEAL FARMER. 

One of the principles long followed in educational 
work is that the ,man who is well educated with a niind, 
under good discipline, is fitted for almost any sphere in 
life. In recent years this theory has received some rude 
shocks, and school men are finding out that the man 
who is really educated is one wlio has some specialty in 
which he is better than others. Therefore specialization 
has become the rule in schools and colleges and in all walks 
of life. The man who tries to be a good minister and a 
good lawyer at the same time is no more found. Neither 
do men try to be -at once a blacksmith, a plumber and a 
shoemaker. 

So it is in agriculture — men have found that it pays 
to learn all about the subject. Just because one is schooled 
in many books or has been successful in trade or a pro- 
fession is not sufficient to qualify him for farming. He 
must know his subject and know it well. And at the 
basis of his science lies knowledge of the soil and its char- 
acter and possibilities. 

But the farmer must have a well trained mind. He 
must be keen of perception and broad-minded. He must 
l3e studious and keep abreast with the times. He should 
take farm magazines and read farm books. He ought 
also to have the daily papers at hand, and know what is 
going on in the world. All these things will give him power 
to reason. But above all else, he must have adaptability. 



20 Campbell's soil culture manual 

Agriculture is a science with new problems every year^ 
and where conditions change the application of the prin- 
ciples must change also. The farmer must meet condi- 
tions as he finds them. With the true principles well 
grounded in him he must be ready to adapt himself to all 
conditions that may come up. 

The problem of farming in what is known as the semi- 
arid region is quite different from that in the humid por- 
tions* of the country. The old methods will not get results. 
Thfe farmer who must readily adapt himself to this fact 
will be quickest to achieve success. Farming, for instance, 
in the lower portions of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys 
is comparatively easy. The farmer has water to waste, 
and he does let it go to waste. Of course he would do 
better farming if he did not waste his water, or rather if 
he had it under control perfectly, as he might have, but 
in fact, he can farm very well and be indifferent to the 
waste of water. Not so everywhere. 

As a matter of fact the men who have been making 
a success of farm operations in the region between the hu- 
mid belt and the western mountains are men capable of 
working out hard problems. They have actually been 
engaged in solving these hard problems for many years. 
The early land seekers made the mistake of trying to farm 
as they did in the states where they formerly lived. The 
later farmers profited by, their experience. As a result 
ideal homes are springing up all over the western states. 

All this may be dismissed as intelligence in farming; 
but it is true that there has been entirely too much farm- 
ing done without this intelligence. 

The ideal farmer is first of all a student, then an in- 
vestigator, and finally a specialist; ever alert for new 
things and new ideas, open-minded and free from conceit; 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



21 



a man familiar with what is going on around him, and yet 
intensely devoted to his own work. 

In order that we may realize our fondest hopes as to 
the future of our country our farmers must be men who are 
capable of developing their industry to its fullest extent. 




FEASTING TIME. 
Watermelons Raised in Lincoln County, Col., by the Campbell System. 

This ability must have a scientific basis. It need not be 
wrapped up in terms so strange that the farm lad may 
turn away in despair. Science requires only words that 
we can all understand. But I am sure that if the young 
men and women of today would throw away that old 
delusive idea that soils produce just in proportion to the 
sunshine and rainfall and that these are matters of chance, 



22 Campbell's soil culture manual 

and that the physical condition of the soil has little or 
nothin.'^ to do with the crops, there would be a better 
feeling as to the safeness and sureness of agriculture. Then 
the farmer should try to comprehend how God has pro- 
vided the necessary elements for the germination of the 
seed and growth of the plant; but it has been left to man 
to discover what is necessary under all conditions to de- 
velop the magnificent crop of cereals or to cause the gar- 
dens to glow with the beauty of finest flowers. Man 
must prepare the way. He must combine the different 
elements and give direction to the forces of nature. It 
is a study worthy of the greatest minds of the world. It 
is a science which the ideal farmer must know. 

There has been a good deal of tendency in recent 
years to follow the cry of back to the farms; but if the na- 
ture of the science were better understood and men were 
more familiar with what has been accomplished and what 
lies just ahead, I feel sure that public sentiment would 
change radically and that rural life would be far more 
popular than it is now. 

Scientific methods under the guiding hands of the 
ideal farmers are rapidly eliminating the drudgery of 
farm life. Our teachers in schools and in literature are 
not so much teaching a way to avoid work as they are 
showing how more can be accomplished with a given 
amount of work. It is being shown how larger crops and 
surer crops are to be garnered. The men and women of 
the farm are being awakened to the fact that they are not 
mere toilers, but important factors in the affairs of the 
world. It is open to them to make real progress, for if 
they do all that they should they will discover methods 
of improvement, and by their investigations show the way 
to better methods for the production of crops. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 2S 

More and more it is becoming recognized everywhere 
that farming is the one business that all others depend 
upon. No other business or profession is so important 
from a material standpoint. It supplies that from which 
all other development proceeds. But it is not what it 
once was. It is not an incidental calling. It is the bus- 
iness of millions of the very best of the people 
of the earth. These people have a broader outlook and 
are facing greater possibilities than ever before. 

The tendency is now as it must ever be to the small 
farm as against the ''bonanza farm," which has so much 
characterized the newer portions of the United States, 
The abolition of the bonanza farm, which is inevitable, 
will change the whole feeling toward farm life. The small 
farmer is the one who gets the most out of his work. He 
is the one who develops. He will follow the more inten- 
sive system of farming. He will do the most to develop 
his state and country. 

And the small farmer is the one who makes his farra 
his home. He seeks comfort for himself and his children. 
He does not build a shed to shelter him during the crop 
season with his family miles away. He becomes a per- 
manent fixture in his country. He builds good houses 
and barns, he gets the best cattle and horses and hogs, 
he has a garden of flowers and he plants trees. He wants 
the school house to be located not far away and he wil- 
lingly taxes himself for support of the school. He con- 
tributes to the erection of a church in the village and he 
is careful that the rural route and the co-operative tele- 
phone do not pass him by. 

The ideal farmer makes the ideal farm, and in turn 
there is compensation quite enough. 



24 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER IV. 



BASIS OF PROSPERITY. 

Prosperity is a sort of endless chain. The dollar goes 
round on a debt-paying tour and everybody is happy. If 
the dollar stops somewhere along the line then everybody 
is gloomy. 

If you set out to explain this and devise a chain for 
the dollar to follow in its rounds, you will invariably in- 
clude the farmer somewhere in the circle. If you begin 
with the grocer then you will go on to the miller or the 
baker or the packer, and soon back to the farmer. You 
may begin with the lawyer and his fee in court, or the 
minister and the contribution box, or start down in the 
''pit'' of the stock exchange where gambling goes on daily 
— but you will always follow back t^o the farmer if you 
go long enough. 

The farmer himself is a consumer as well as a producer. 
The farmer is always buying something. He seldom 
hoards up the money he gets from his sales of grain or 
steers. The farmer is a consumer of manufactured goods, 
and when he has money in abundance he buys freely of 
the things which are made in factories. Finally the 
circle is completed, and the money comes back to him 
in purchase of more of the farm products. 

If the farmer is prosperous then he is a buyer. But 
the farmer more than any other person on earth can get 
along fairly well for a time without any general buying 
if he is compelled to do so. He can and does economize 



CAMPBOLL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



25 



more than others when his bank account is low. And 
so when conditions are such that rnen begin to retrench 
in expenses the farmer is one of the first to do so, and scon 
the chain of prosperity is broken at avital spot. In like 



l^^l 




CORN IN COLORADO. 
Grown Ninety Miles East of Denver in 1906 by the Campbell Method. 

manner it is certain that as long as the farmer is spending 
money freely then others will have something with which 
to buy things or to pay debts. The farmer's good times 
means good times for everybody. 

Now the farmer is prosperous just as he has abundance 



26 Campbell's soil culture manual 

of crops of all kinds. It matters not that the gold pro- 
duction is becoming greater each year and prices are 
advancing s+eadily, unless we are to have good results 
from agricultural operations. Nobody cares about high 
prices unless there is something to sell. We have here 
in the United States an era of great prosperity simply 
because there has been for a number of years a steady 
increase in farm production, not a spurt one year and 
a failure the next, but continuing good crops over large 
areas of the country. 

This is the true basis of prosperity. It is therefore 
of real interest to men in every walk of life to do all that 
is in their power to have continuance of the success of 
the farmers. Therefore the business or professional man 
helps himself indirectly when he in any manner aids or 
prompts the farmer to gain a better knowledge of his soils 
and scientific soil culture. 

It used to be said, and with much truth, that the 
great safety valve for the whole economic system of the 
United States was the free homes of the West. When- 
ever industrial conditions became unsatisfactory in the 
manufacturing centers the surplus labor was shunted 
off to the free or cheap land of the west. Now, that 
this practically free land is no longer obtainable, the same 
effect comes through increase in the producing power of 
the farms already occupied. The farmer cannot cure 
his dissatisfaction by turning quickly to unoccupied land; 
he can increase his product and output by applying better 
methods to his farming operations. 

Few people realize how this process of getting more 
out of the soil by means of scientific farming has been 
developed in recent years, especially in the middle and 



Campbell's soil culture manual 27 

western states; much less do they reaUze what an import- 
ant factor this has been in furthering the immense ex- 
pansion of business in our history. 

It is no small matter to effect a change so that on a 
million acres of farm land the yield of grain is doubled 
in quantity. The farmer who is contented with 15 bushels 
of wheat per acre when he gets a crop, and counts on 
missing a few seasons because, as he thinks, the ''luck 
of the weather" was against him, immediately becomes a 
man of much more importance to himself and the com- 
munity when he discovers that he can get 30 to 40 bushels 
of wheat every year on the same land by application of 
a little science under modern methods. This is just what 
has been taking place in recent years, especially in that 
section of our country once set down as of little value 
for farming, but now recognized as our choicest region. 

Because of this development upon these western farms, 
because of the application of scientific farming, because 
of the steg^dy increase in the output of the farms, there 
has come to our country unexampled prosperity in every 
line. The towns are growing, the cities are expanding, 
railroad lines are being built, the banks are busy, the mer- 
chants are doing well, the factories are running over-time, 
the workingmen are getting better wages, everybody is 
better and happier. The problem of maintaining this 
prosperity which so much delights us all is, therefore, 
not one related to the kind of currency we have, the pay- 
ing of bounties to ship owners, or to the treatment of the 
tariff; but that of maintaining a steady average of prof- 
itable crop production. 

The student of social economics must fail entirely who 
underestimates the importance of scientific soil culture in 
the creation and maintenance of our prosperity. 



28 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER Y. 



SMALL FARMS; BETTER FARMING. 

The struggle to get that which will sustain life in 
quantities sufficient to always satisfy all the people has 
been going on since the garden of Eden ceased to yield 
of its fruit an over-supply. It seems that there will never 
be enough of the good things of life. There can never 
be permanently any too great production of the things 
which come from the soil to supply the needs of man. 
The cry is ever for more. 

The people of the United States nave been favored 
for the century and a quarter of national existence by 
the fact of their always having near at hand a vast supply 
of cheap unoccupied land, so that when production fell 
below requirements some men could move out upon the 
unused land and rapidly increase production by expan- 
sion of the agricultural area. The statisticians of the 
states have done much boasting of how the production 
of their states has increased; but this increase has gener- 
ally been because of the enlarged area under cultivation. 

But the cheap land is about all taken. Attention is 
turned properly to the problem of how to get more out 
of the land already under cultivation. Here is a great 
corn state and a group of men conceive the idea that the 
average yield per acre of corn can be increased from 30 
to 40 bushels or perhaps more. Great idea, and the peo- 
ple are delighted with the missionary work thus done. 
Another learns of a new variety of wheat more productive 
than any other and he is hailed as a great benefactor. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



29 



It is the same everywhere. The acres which lie in 
the so-called semi-arid belt have been utilized for grazing 
and they are yet our cheapest land. With the westward 
tide turned back from the coast and mountains, it has 





CAMPBELL SYSTEM VEGETABLES. 

Raised without Irrigation by Mr. Rice, ninety miles east of Denver, 
on Kansas Pacific, first season's crop. 

become necessar}?- that something be done to make these 
cheap acres yield more. And happily that something is 
being done. The intelligent tilling of the soil on the dry 
prairies is enabling these farmers to double their crops. 



30 Campbell's soil culture manual 

Instead of 7 to 10 bushels of wheat to the acre they are 
getting 30 to 40, and getting it every year. Corn 
and hay yield in corresponding amounts. 

The result is exactly the same as that of opening up 
new land and increasing the acreage under cultivation. 
It is all that is left for the American farmer. He must 
farm better and get larger crops or admit that he has 
reached the limit of his productive capacity. 

The profit of the average western farm is not half 
what it should be or could be if the farmer would utilize 
all present available knowledge. Our farming methods 
compare unfavorably with those of other countries. Com- 
pared with the amount of land under cultivation, we do 
not use a sufficient number of teams, nor employ enough 
labor, nor have the necessary equipment. The estimated 
average value per acre of machinery, teams, buildings and 
appliances in various countries is as follows: 

In the United States $ 9 . 00 

In England 40.00 

In Germany .from $50 to 100 .00 

The total is governed to some extent by the special 
farming followed. 

The returns per acre from land in these three countries 
show even a wider difference. The United States has soil 
equally good and much of it even better than in the other 
countries named, yet the wheat crop averages a little 
over 14 bushels per acre for the whole country, while 
England averages 32 bushels and Germany 33J bushels 
per acre. 

The difference is largely due to the more scientific 
methods of farming in the old worldo 

The western farmer should look carefully into this 



Campbell's soil culture manual 31 

methods of farming, and especially make a study of soil 
culture, and determine for himself by intelligent reason- 
ing, if he can not easily double his crop yield. 

In the past few years prosperity has abounded. There 
is no question as to the close relationship between general 
prosperity and the steady production of the farms. When 
there is an abundance of farm produce going into the 
markets of the world all business thrives. That in the 
United States this constant prosperity covering a period 
of years has been due largely to the fact that the farmers 
have been successful in their efforts . to greatly increase 
the per acre yield of their land is also beyond any question. 

Every farmer should consider what it means to him 
individually to double his crops. He should also consider 
how important it is to make sure of good crops no matter 
what the conditions may be. This is what scientific soil 
culture does. 

But we can never have much better farming until 
farmers content themselves with fewer acres for each one. 
There has been all too much spreading out so that one 
man tills, or directs the tillage, of many thousands of 
acres. Land greed has been the curse of farming. The 
farmer can no more do his best while trying to cultivate 
a thousand acres than by confining himself to a two-acre 
lot. He must have enough, but not too much. 

Better farming means better farms, more comfortable 
farm homes, happier farm families, better citizenship, 
more nearly the ideal simple life. 



32 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER VI. 



A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE. 

Spread before you a map of the United States, one of 
the old kind common to the geographies of thirty to fifty 
years ago. You may have to brush the dust from its 
faded surface if you find one such. Perhaps you can con- 
jure it up in your mind. On such a map you will recall 
that there were large regions marked '^great forests;" 
then other areas indicated as ''high plateaus;'' and others 
where the dotted surface indicated a desert just like that 
in northern Africa. Then the portions which the map 
makers regarded as strictly good were marked with innu- 
merable rivers and lakes. 

Compare this with a good railroad map of today which 
can be gotten from any first class agent. Note how the 
forest regions bave disappeared, and how seldom is there 
anything to indicate a high plateau. The mountain re- 
gions seem to have shrunk. And, behold! the fabled 
deserts have disappeared entirely. 

But the transcontinental lines of railway have long 
stretches with few stations, indicating that in some por- 
tions of the country the population is small. All this 
is being gradually changed, yet the area of small popula- 
tion is still very large. 

The semi-arid region of the United States lies west 
of the Missouri river, presenting first an irregular strip 
extending from the Canada line to Texas, through por- 
tions of the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, 



33 

Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico; then ha vhig sec- 
tions surrounding the Rocky mountains and the Coast 
ranges, including large areas of Idaho, Washington, Ore- 
gon, Utah, Arizona and California. Here is almost a 
third of the United States where the rainfall is from 10 
to 20 inches annually, where in many places farming by 
the old methods has proved a failure. This is the semi- 
arid region about which so much has been said. It is 
the dream of the irrigationist to '^ reclaim" large portions 
of this country. It has been the hope of the herdsman 
that much of it would ever remain public land that he 
might continue his grazing of large herds. 

It is a matter of common knowledge that the soil of 
this region is of a texture admirably adapted to the best 
farming. The fact of the small precipitation has been, 
the sole reason for the failure to develop this region. For 
many years it was believed that this was in fact a desert 
region. The gold seekers who followed the trails across 
the plains sent back word that the climate was such that 
this must ever be a worthless land. But as the years 
wore on, here and there a farmer tried to do more than 
herd his cattle and sheep on the short grass. A few suc- 
cesses were recorded amid many failures. But the slow 
plodding farmer has a way of winning success despite all 
theories, and today, all through this semi-arid region are 
to be found scattered farms where men have accomplished 
a great deal for themselves. The soil is, in fact, fine and 
rich, of loose texture, and generally free from objection- 
able traits. 

It has been abundantly demonstrated that if farming 
operations are carried on in this region under scientific 
soil culture, if care is taken to conserve the moisture and 
not to waste it, if the soil is so treated that its fertility 



34 Campbell's soil culture manual 

will be made available, if there is plowing and packing and 
seeding and cultivation suited to the conditions as they 
exist in this vast region — then crops are large and sure, 
and farming becomes akin to an exact science. 

And this can be done — is being done — will be done by 
millions where it is done by only a few today. 

A few years hence and the so-called ^'plains" or ''Great 
American desert'' of the map makers will be dotted with 




MONTANA WHEAT. 

Wheat Crop of Thirty Bushels, Fifteen Miles South of Great Falls, 

Montana, Grown ^yithout Irrigation. 

splendid farm houses and great red barns. There will 
be rows of trees for wind-breaks and shade. There will 
be orchards and gardens. The great fields will be tilled 
by the very best of modern machinery. Steam and electric- 
ity will largely take the place of horse power in the heav- 



cambpell's soil culture manual 35 

lest work; for this i« possible here much more than in the 
cramped fields of the older states. Plowing and seeding 
and harvesting will all be done much more quickly and 
better than ever before. There are few obstacles to good 
work. There are no boulders to break the plowshare 
and no stumps to bend the sickle. It is a country admir- 
ably adapted to the ideal farming. And the men who go 
out to conquer this desert land and to compel success 
under adverse conditions are jvist the men to build up 
ideal homes. 

It is in this vast region that railroad building is going 
on now more rapidly than any place else in the world. 
Nothing could be more significant. Men who invest their 
millions in railroad enterprises do not do so without con- 
sideration of what it means. A few years ago the railroad 
managers declared that if they could do so, they would 
pull up some of the tracks they had laid in this coun- 
try; and today these same tracks mark the pathway of 
immense commerce. Because there were failures due to 
misdirected efforts on the part of the farmers is not proof 
that the country is useless. On the contrary it has been 
demonstrated, and this is better known by the railroad 
builders than by any others, that the semi-arid region 
is destined to be in a few years the richest portion of the 
United States. 

Looking far into the future one may see this region 
dotted with fine farms, with countless herds of blooded 
animals grazing, with school houses in every township, 
with branch lines of railroads, with electric interurban 
trolly lines running in a thousand directions, with tele- 
phone systems innumerable, with rural mail routes reach- 



36 Campbell's soil culture manual 

ing to every door. It is coming just as sure as the coming 
of another century. The key has been found and the 
door to the riches has been unlocked. 

How many millions will be supported upon this region? 
Nobody knows. But the day will come when those who 
tell of the hesitancy of their forefathers about trying to 
subdue this region will have to modify the truth if they 
are to be believed. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 37 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE DISK HARROW. 

There is no tool the farmer can own that can be used 
in as many ways and under as many different conditions, 
and turn him as much profit if judiciously operated, as 
the Disk Harrow. It can be used to great advantage 
when the plow could not be used. 

It is not, however, a tool that can take the place of 
the plow and secure anything like fair returns, except in 
exceedingly favorable seasons when rainfall is ideal and 
opportune. 

Thousands of acres of wheat have been put in with a 
disk drill, or by disking the ground and then drilling, 
much of which was never cut, and a still larger percent 
never paid the expense of growing. 

Since spending so much time in scientific research of 
the soils and the implements with which to till the soils, 
we have become very much interested in the disk harrow 
and its great scope of usefulness. 

The great value of the disk harrow lies in its adapta- 
bility to the protection of moisture, the preparation of 
the surface soil for the encouragement of rapid percolation 
of the rain water, and in thoroughly pulverizmg a some- 
what cloddy plowed field and getting an improved phys- 
ical or mechanical condition of the soil. It has been 
used on thousands of acres instead of plowing, when it 
should have been used to precede the plow. We have 
quoted, under the heads of ''Evaporation" and ''Culti- 



38 Campbell's soil culture manual 

vation/' instances where the early use of the disk for the 
sole purpose of preventing evaporation and preparing the 
surface to receive and utilize further rains, has resulted 
in giving the farmer increased yields of corn as high as 
twenty bushels to the acre. Think of twenty bushels of 
corn per acre for only forty cents of extra expense. In 
the handling of fields for summer culture there is no tool 
that can take the place of the disk harrow, cost of labor 
and value of work considered; and while it is not a tool 
that can be continuously used, we do not see how a man 
can successfully handle an orchard without it. The disk 
harrow may be used to prepare a field for a crop, and 
in connection with the plow, its work is most valuable. 
The complete pulverizing and thorough separating of the 
particles one from another in its rotating action, when 
proper diameter of disk is used, is perfect. 

WHEN TO USE THE DISK. 

We most urgently advise the use of the disk early 
in the spring on all stubble ground or old fields intended 
for spring crops. The value of this early work with the 
disk is inestimable, and the more arid the condition, the 
greater the value of its early use. No time should be 
lost after the soil has become sufficiently thawed and dry 
so that it will not stick to the disk. For best results 
double disk the ground by lapping one-half,, the object 
being to thoroughly pulverize and loosen the surface for 
a two-fold purpose. To loosen and form a soil mulch to 
prevent the loss of moisture by evaporation as well as 
to break the hard crusted surface to promote a more rapid 
and complete percolation or soaking into the soil below 
of the early spring rains. 

In addition to the subject of conserving and more 
effectually storing the moisture, is another question not 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



39 



commonly considered, but of equal importance — that pf 
the more ready admission of the air which is in two ways 
very advantageous, that of more quickly warming the soil 
and promoting a more ready chemical action - necessary 
to the development of fertility. 

THE DISK AFTER HARVEST. 

In still another season of the year we find the disk of 
equal value, that is immediately after the small grain 




Following Harvester with the Disk, a very profitable part of the 
Campbell system. 

or any other crop is removed. It is advised whenever 
possible to follow behind the harvester and not allow 
the soil to be exposed a single day to the sun's rays after 



40 Campbell's soil culture manual 

the crop is gathered. It is very difficult to explain the 
value and importance of this work in sufficiently strong 
terms to permit the reader to grasp its full force and 
meaning. We will endeavor to give it in six reasons. 

First: There is no time in the year when water held 
in the soil near the surface in sufficient quantities, will 
bring about so many valuable chemical changes as during 
the months of July and August. This is the season of 
the year when a vast amount of nitrates and bacteria 
may be developed, in other words, the fertility, the very 
elements that start your wheat off early in the fall with 
that dark green color, and has very much to do with its 
stooling, providing, however, your final work of fitting 
your seed bed is carried out as explained under ''plowing" 
and "sub-packing." 

The fact that the farmer loses sight of the real scien- 
tific or necessary physical condition of the soil in the 
plowing of his field for another crop, accounts for the 
failure of so many plowed fields to yield as much in dry 
seasons as fields that were simply put in with a disk drill 
and not plowed. How often have we heard farmers 
say: ''I plowed my ground and fitted it thoroughly, and 
my neighbor hogged his wheat in with a disk and got a 
better crop than I did." In fact the man with the disk 
had produced a more scientific condition of the soil. 

Second: If there is any moisture in the soil below, 
by preparing this fine mulch of a liberal thick aess this 
moisture will accumulate in the firm soil just beneath. 
If no more rains come, your ground is in perfect condition 
to plow because of the moisture you have retained by 
the early disking. 

Third: If you do not wish to plow in the fall this 
moisture can be carried over until the next spring, when 



Campbell's soil culture manual 41 

in case of a dry spring your soil, if properly handled, as 
I will outline later, can be planted, and the seed will im- 
mediately germinate and grow, while your neighbor is 
worrying about a dry country and may harvest nothing. 
Fourth: Sometimes you may have teams and time 
to do some fall plowing for spring crops. If your soil is 
dry it is folly to plow, but if you have held the moisture 
in the soil, it is wise to fall-plow, providing you follow the 
plow with the sub-surface packer, firming the lower por- 
tion of the furrow slice while the soil is still moist, holding 
the moisture below instead of allowing the furrow to dry 
out, as it will, if left loose by the plow. 

DO NOT GAMBLE. 

Some say that with early plowing the rains will pack 
it, and you don't need the Sub-Surface Packer. If you 
want to gamble the price of a good crop that it will rain 
enough in the fall to do the necessary packing, then all 
right. However, let us consider one fact. How would 
you have come out in the fall of 1903 in western Kansas 
and Nebraska, the Panhandle of Texas, and all eastern 
Colorado, with practically no rain for eight months, from 
late August to early May, 1904? Just as a great many did 
come out. Better follow business principles and be sure. 
Gambling wins sometimes, but you can never bank on it. 

Fifth: In case you wish to sow fall wheat this early 
disking may mean ten to thirty bushels more per acre. 
By holding the moisture as shown above, it will be seen 
that ^any subseo^uent rain will percolate more quickly and 
deeper. If the rain be a heavy one, sufficient to dissolve 
and pack the loosened surface, the harrow should be thor- 
oughly used as soon as the soil is dry enough not to stick, 
and by all means wait no longer. When you are ready to 
plow for fall wheat your soil is moist. By following the 



42 campb::]ll's soil culture manual 

plow with the packer, and the packer with the harrow, 
you will have a fine, firm, moist seedbed and your wheat 
will come up, stool and grow rapidly, and you need have 
no fears of winter killing if the seed bed is in proper condi- 
tion. 

Sixth: In our last is found the most important fact of all, 
namely, that of having your ground in condition to carry 
your crop through any spring drouth that has ever yet 
occurred, with a sure good s^nd of wheat, and an early 
rapid growth. 

SIZE OF THE DISK TO USE. 

When disk harrows first came in use the common 
size was fourteen inches in diameter, and this size we still 
prefer^ but the demand seems to be for larger disks, the 
farmers conceiving the idea that they draw lighter. While 
this is true, the pulverizing effect of the sixteen-inch is 
not so good as the fourteen, the eighteen-inch even less, 
and a twenty-inch we would not have on a farm. Just 
a moment's thought on this point, and you will readily 
see the reason 

The larger the disk the slower it revolves, consequently 
the pulverizing effect is decreased as the size of the disk 
is increased. I have noticed twenty-inch disks rolling 
along when the ground was somewhat dry, and simply 
slice the soil, raising it up a little and letting it fall back 
in large clods in exactly the same position it was before 
the disk passed over. The process simply made little 
crevices and actually increased the evaporation of moist- 
ure instead of decreasing it. A fourteen-inch disk moving 
along at the same rate of speed would revolve faster, 
therefore, pulverize and completelv reverse the soil. Don't 
buy a disk too large in diameter. 



CAMPBELLS SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 4-3 

Always double disk by lapping one-halt. This leaves 
the surface level if you drive so the outside disk will just 
fill the furrow left by the center of the disk just preceding. 
Keep tb;^ disk sharp. Tt pays Buy as broad a disk as you 
have horses to draw. Time is money. Always precede 
your plowing by thoroughly disking. It helps materially 
in obtaining a fine, firm root bed. New and improv^^d 
di^Iv harrows are the next thin ,2; in orderr 



44 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER VIII. 



PLOWING. 

In outlining a general plan for the preparation of our 
fields for the best possible results in crop growing and 
grain yields, the plow takes first place as the all-important 
tool. The kind of plow used is not so vital as the how 
it is used, and what the condition of the soil is or should 
be when used. 

Many have attempted to fix the time when the plow- 
ing should be done, whether early or late, fall or spring, 
in regard to which we would assert that there can be no 
fixed rule for time or depth of plowing. For the purpose 
of securing the best results the farmer must first take the 
precaution to prepare the field for plowing as outlined 
in the chapter headed ''The Disk Harrow." 

Many experiments have been conducted by the various 
agricultural colleges along the lines of determining a fixed 
rule for plowing, but the wide difference in results one year 
with another, v/hen the attempts have been made to plow 
the same time of year or the same depth, shows conclusively 
that the simple fact of plowing three, four, six or eight 
inches deep each year, or plowing spring or fall, late or 
early, means but little, and the results shown cannot be 
taken as any guide whatever unless we consider the 
condition of the soil when the plowing is done, 
and what tillage has been done before plowing. If these 
questions are not considered, then the final result of the 
experimental crop is governed more by the soil condition 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 45 

at the time of plowing, and the climatic conditions before 
and after plowing than by the absolute depth or time of 
plowing. 

We desire to call attention to these facts on the starts 
that we may prepare the student to more fully grasp the 
real scientific principles 

SPRING PLOWING OLD LAND. 

The first and all-important work is the early double- 
disking as explained in the preceding chapter. It is 
nothing uncommon to see farmers double-disk by first 
going over the ground one way and then cross-disk it. 
This is not correct, for it results in a series of ridges and 
trenches, leaving the surface very uneven. The trenches 
left by the center of the disk each way over the field, ex- 
poses the solid soil in the bottom to the direct rays of the 
sun, causing an enormous evaporation resulting in a thick 
hard crust which breaks into coarse clods when plowed. 
The proper manner of double-disking is to lap half, which 
leaves the surface smooth and thoroughly pulverized. 
In the lapping of the half of the disk the last time over^ 
the last disks revolve at right angles with the disks that 
precede. We cannot put too much stress upon this part 
of the proper preparation of the soils. Bearing in mind 
that the all-important element for the successful growth 
of our crops is water, we must lose no opportunity of 
conserving and storing the water from the earliest part 
of the spring to late in the fall. 

WHEN TO PLOW. 

Evaporation and percolation are more fully explained 
in chapters to follow. After thoroughly pulverizing the 
surface to stop the evaporation we can do our plowing 
a little later, regardless of the climatic conditions which 
may exist, and we shall find the soil in a moist condition. 



4.f\ 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



It u very important that much care and attention be 
given to the condition of the ground at the time the plow- 
ing is done. Land should not be plowed when in bad 
physical condition, for good physical conditions are very 
necessary for an abundance of available plant food. This 
cannot be obtained in the seed and root bed unless this 







Cut No. 1. Showing Soil as the Plow Leaves It. 

point is given careful attention. Devote special study 
to what we say with reference to the physical condition 
of the soil. It is one of the most important subjects in 
connection with the chapter on the water holding capacity 
of the soil. 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



47 



In cut No. 1, we illustrate the common condition 
of ordinary plowed fields. Observe the appearance un- 
derneath the portion of the furrow that has been thrown 
over by the mould board on the side of the next furrow. 
This illustration shows a field that had not been disked 
before plowing. 

Here is the stubble, weeds and clods that Lave rolled 




Cut No. 2. Surface of Soil Harrowed but without Sub-Packing. 



from the next furrow, while right at the point where the 
furrow is tipped over the soil is firm from the bottom up. 
The usual manner of further preparing this ground is by 
the use of the harrow. This has a tendency to level, 
and, if shallow plowed, to w^ork the ground down fairly 
,well at the bottom of the plowing. In deep plowing, 
of six or more inches, the harrow has but little effect 
upon these cavities underneath. This is a very serious prop- 
osition, and it is the source of many bad conditions which 



48 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

have a direct effect upon the final yield of the crops. First 
of all, it cuts off the seed or root bed from the sub-soil, 
preventing the movement of any moisture up into the 
root-bed. It also forms air spaces or cavities where a 
volume of air may exist, which aids in drying out the 
soil immediately adjacent. It also prevents the lateral 
roots and feeders from extending and permeating 
this portion of the soil, leaving a large per cent of our 
surface soil in a condition not at all beneficial to the grow- 
ing crop. 

In cut No. 3, we show the cross section of the same 
two furrows shown in cut No. 1. Here the cavities and 
loose condition of the soil at the bottom of the furrow 
have all been obliterated by the use of the sub-surface 
packer, which is illustrated in cut No. 5. These sharp 
wedge-faced wheels have both a downward and a lateral 
pressure against the soil in_ the spaces between them. 
The soil is moved by the packer in such a manner as to 
form a firm and evenly packed stratum at the lower por- 
tion of the furrow. 

EFFECT OF THE DISKING. 

A word about the disk. Had this land been double- 
disked before plowing, the stubble, weeds or manure 
shown in a strip at the bottom would have been scattered 
through the lower part of the furrow, the soil made finer 
and the packer would have made it more uniform and 
firmer, increasing its water-holding capacity. This w^ould 
have promoted more general nitrification, facilitated greater 
and mere uniform root growth aid made it possible to 
have even doubled the yield of the crop, for it is not un- 
common that a little more available fertility just at the 
proper time would have increased the yield fully two 
and possibly three times. , 



Campbell's soil culture manual 40. 

physical condition of soil. 

When our farmers grasp the real meaning of the little 
things just referred to, that is, that a certain physical or 
mechanical condition of the soil, must exist where the roots 
and rootlets should grow, and that this condition is govern- 
ed by the time and kind of tillage, and that only a slight, 
variation from the ideal condition because of unscientific 
tillage or fitting may, and often does make, five, ten or 
twentv-five bushels per acre difference in the yield, then 
it is that we shall know by results what the possibilities 
of our great prairies are. 

After the packer has been used, by then employing; 
the ordinary smoothing harrow, or any late improved! 
harrow, the surface is pulverized and made fine and the 
lower part of the upper portion, which is shown as loose 
and coarse in cut No. 1, is made firm, forming a perfect 
seed bed. The lower part made firm by the packer forms 
the main root bed, while cut No. 4 shows field complete. 

MANY IDEAS AS TO PLOWING. 

With this general explanation, let us return to the 
subject of plowing. With the varied experiences of the 
average farmer throughout the semi-arid west there has 
arisen a great variety of ideas with reference to depths 
of plowing, and whether it is advisable even to plow more 
than once in two or three years. Some have resorted to 
double-listing, each farmer believing he has conceived a 
very plausible reason why he should plow three or five inches 
or why he should not plow at all. I fully appreciate the 
honesty and good intentions of the farmer, but the reason 
there is such a great variety of opinion is because he does 
not grasp the importance of having a certain physical 
condition of the soil, one that is favorable to holding the 
largest amount of moisture to the square inch; one that 



50 Campbell's soil culture manual 

is favorable to the most rapid movement of moisture by 
capillary attraction; one that is most favorable to the de- 
velopment of the greatest amount of available fertility, 
and one that is favorable to the most prolific growth 
and development of the lateral roots, with their thous- 
ands of little feeders. This condition cannot be secured 
at its best and the largest productive results obtained 
without thoroughly plowing, pulverizing and packing the 
soil each and every year. 

All of the -above mentioned conditions are gained by 
plowing at a sufficient depth to stir the soil which will 
later contain the major part of feeding roots. 

In further discussing the question of what is the proper 
physical condition of the soil v/hen plowing is done, we 
would call your attention to the furrow as it is turned over 
by the plow when the soil is simply moist — neither very 
wet nor very dry. How nicely each little particle of soil 
seems to separate, one from the other, when, if too dry, 
a cloddy condition is observed; and the same is true when 
the soil is too wet. We should try to secure the most 
uniform, fine condition of our soil for the four-fold pur- 
pose above referred to. By close observation and careful 
attention to these important points we may secure a 
crop result fully one hundred per cent greater than we 
could obtain if these items were disregarded. 

PROPER DEPTH OF PLOWING 

Let us first consider the simple question of deep, m^e- 
dium, or shallow plowing from its standpoint alone, with- 
out considering the condition of the soil at the time, or 
the kind of tools we are going to use after plowing. 

This brings us to the position of the average plowman 



Campbell's soil culture manual 51 

up to a very recent date. All he considered in getting 
ready to plow^ was to get his other work out of the way, 
then go at it and rip it up. 

Many farmers and experimenters have endeavored 
under these rules to ascertain the most desirable depth 
of plowing for best resultSj and after trying one piece, 
say, three inches, another five, and another seven inches 
deep, for three or five years, they have found themselves 
all at sea. One year the deep plowing gave best results, 
possibly the next year it gave the poorest; while the me- 
dium or shallow came in ahead, and all because the 
farmer had no conception whatever of the true principles 
of developing or promoting available fertility. His plan 
of procedure was a gam_ble, and left him entirely at the 
mercy of kind Providence in the doling out of rain and 
sunshine. If the rains came at the proper time and in 
the proper quantity; interspersed with no long, dry pe- 
riods, the gam^e was his; but if the reverse was true, then 
his deep plowing that did so well the previous year, gave 
a light crop, or nothing at all. 

Had this one question alone* in Soil Culture been fully 
understood twenty years ago, the central west would 
haA^e never felt the pangs of adversity during the panic 
of the early nineties, nor would hundreds of eastern wid- 
ows, orphans, ministers, school teachers, and savings 
banks lost millions of dollars in western mortgages. 

FALL PLOWING OLD LAND. 

After discussing the pros and cons of spring plowing, 
it would seem that we had exhausted the subject. Not 
so, in the least. One of the most important questions 
we have not yet touched, and that is, what may be done 
to very materially increase the chances of a big crop of 
wheat following wheat? 



52 cambpell's soil culture manual 

The following of a harvester with a disk as shown in 
illustration elsewhere, is one of the little things that mean 
much. Especially is this true in the growing of winter 
wheat in the more arid sections. There are two very 
prominent reasons for this: 

First, by repeated experiments we have found it very 
important in holding up the fertility of the soil to prevent 
its becoming dry either before the crop is planted, during 
its growth, or after it is harvested, in so far as it may be 
possible. Especially is this true in July and August, 
during which time the temperature usually runs high and the 
humidity low, causing an enormous evaporation and rapid 
drying out of the soil upon which the dead stubble of 
wheat or other small grain is left standing with the sur- 
face soil closely compacted by the rains or from irrigation. 
The stubble itself strongly attracts the sun's rays. By 
double-disking we are able to mix the stubble and coarser 
roots among the loosened soil, forming a most ideal mulch 
to prevent further evaporation, and if you have been care- 
ful to conserve all your moisture in previous years, you 
will soon find the firm soil beneath this mulch quite moist. 

INCREASING THE FERTILITY. 

This moisture, together with the nitrifying air that 
freely permeates your mulch, together with the heat, 
will develop more or less bacteria and nitrates, and really 
increases the available fertility in lieu of depleting it, as 
is true when the field is allowed to dry out under the 
more common methods. 

Second, by the disking you prevent the loss of moist- 
ure, this peculiarly desirable condition causing this moist- 
ure to gather in the hard soil just beneath the mulch, 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 53 

putting your field in ideal condition to plow, and by using 
reasonable caution to harrow or again disk in case of 
excessive heavy rains you can plow at any time. 

CONSIDER SOIL CONDITIONS. 

The proper depth of plowing, as we have previously 
attempted to show, must be governed very largely by the 
condition of the soil, the time of year that the plowing is 
done, the time it is to be seeded or planted, and the kind 
of tools you have for the after work. 

Take the average prairie soil, especially if level with 
a sand loam formation : I advise plowing fully seven inches 
deep if to be seeded or planted soon after. But to do this 
and anticipate a fair crop, the soil must be moist and not 
wet. The surface must be thoroughly disked before 
plowing, and the sub-surface packer must follow close 
to the plow. The plowing done before noon should be 
packed before going to dinner, and that done in the after- 
noon packed before leaving the field at night, and then 
follow with the harrow to get the surface in good condi- 
tion before the clods get too dry. 

In case of early fall plowing, for spring crops and 
moist soil, if you have sufficient team, it will be found 
profitable to plow eight inches deep, following with a 
packer and harrow as above mentioned. If you have no 
sub-surface packer, beg, buy or borrow one. If you have 
no packer, I would not advise plowing over five inches 
deep, and use the common harrow with teeth slightly 
slanting and weighted, the object being to pulverize and 
firm the under portion of the furrow. But don't figure 
on getting the same results from the five inch plowing 
thus fitted. These observations are very important. 

EVEN FURROW SLICES. 

Much care and attention should be given to the furrovv 



54 Campbell's soil culture manual 

slices that they may be even in width and depth, so that 
when you go over the ground with your packer or harrow 
there may be no soil spaces left loose and porous. The 
average farmer must realize the great importance of 
thoroughly fining and firming the entire plowed portion. 
In the ordinary conditions as found at the bottom of fur- 
rows in plowing left without any further work until it 
has all dried out, shown in cut No. 1, fully one-third of 
the soil contributes no nourishment whatever to the growth 
or production of the crop. By adding a little extra pains 
and labor that one-third of non-productive soil may be 
put in condition to do its full share in making a larger 
and better crop, while the remaining two-thirds will 
bring far better results. By closely following this rule 
you will greatly increase the certainty as well as the quan- 
tity and quality of your crops of small grain. 

BREAKING NEW PRAIRIE LANDS. 

There are two questions to consider in breaking 
new .prairie, both of which are quite vital. 

First, what can or should be done to promote the 
quickest and most thorough decomposition not only 
of the sod that is turned over, but of that portion of the 
soil just beneath the sod that we expect to turn on top 
in our next plowing. 

Second, how to get all the rainwater possible to pass 
below the sod, and there conserve it. 

When we went to Dakota in 1879, the idea was very 
prevalent that the sod as it was turned over should be 
allowed to kink up and lie loosely on the surface. This 
we ■ soon found was a very erroneous idea for the semi- 
arid sections, a plan that might have originated in early 
Illinois home making. 

With fourteen years' farming in Dakota, we became 



Campbell's soil culture manual 55 

very much prejudiced in favor of breaking only when 
the grass was growing the fastest. Other facts and con- 
ditions have developed to that degree that we have prac- 
tically lost sight of this idea except in the more humid 
sections. 

The marvelous and rapid change of the big pastures 
in the great semi-arid sections of this country into farm- 
ing sections through Scientifie Soil Culture during 1905 
and 1906 has brought forth thousands of inquiries as to 
how these prairies may be opened up and a crop grown 
the first year. 

Having opened up two farms of this nature in the 
Panhandle of Texas, and observing many other fields 
during the above two years, coupled with our early expe- 
rience with sod breaking in the Dakotas in .1879 to 1889, 
we find the best plan, if possible to do so, is to break the 
fall before. 

fall breaking. 

We are assuming that we have what is commonly known 
as buffalo sod. For best results we would break as early 
in the fall as it may be consistent, and as to depth of 
breaking would be governed by the tools we had to operate 
with and kind of crop we desired to plant. 

If for spring wheat or oats break about three and 
a half inches deep, using the walking rod breaker, and using 
the greatest possible care to turn it flat. Follow with a 
smooth roller if one can be had. In lieu of this, use the 
sub-surface packer, going twice over the field, then harrow 
to fill the crevices, and leave until spring. 

As early as conditions will permit, double-disk, set- 
ting the disk levers as far over as possible, and not turn 



56 Campbell's soil culture manual 

up the sod from the bottom. Then harrow thoroughly 
with common smoothing harrow, teeth slanted back 
and weighted. 

FOR POTATOES, VEGETABLES, ETC. 

Follow same plan as above outlined, except break 
about three inches, after treating as above outlined, 
plow again with stirring or stubble plow about two inches 
deeper, following the plow with the sub-surface packer, 
then harrow. 

In case fall breaking is impossible and spring breaking 
is imperative, follow practically the same plan of fitting 
for the different crops, but of necessity the breaking must 
be early. Bear in mind the soil must be fine, and at the 
bottom as firm as it may be possible to get it. 

The disk plow may be used. It is only a question of 
getting the soil as fine and firm as possible for reasons 
frequently reiterated all through this volume. Very good 
Milo maize and Kaffir corn can be grown in the same 
manner for feed for teams. 

When necessary to spring-break sod, we would not 
advise sowing oats in a section where the rainfall is less 
than 20 inches annually. It is by no means a sure crop 
on sod, no matter how it is fitted. It is not wise to risk 
any more on sod than necessities demand. 

BREAKING SOD FOR FALL WHEAT. 

There is very little prairie sod now unbroken except 
in the more arid sections, and we believe in turning it as 
quickly as conditions will permit, and so far as it may 
be possible, break tbe fall before you wish to crop, 
as it will pay. If at any time you have some leisure, 
t:urn over some sod as flat as you can. Roll it to make it 
lie firmly against the subsoil. The packer does very 
well if you have no roller. Keep the surface worked 



Campbell's soil culture manual 57 

after heavy rains. If you can't loosen it with any other 
tool, disk it. Watch, and so far as possible, harrow when 
the surface is just moist. This will prevent the loss of 
any moisture, holding it as far as it may be possible beneath 
the blanket, and in case of heavy rain harrow again. With 
this blanket properly provided during June and July the 
sod itself will not only be found to be well rotted but the 
top of the subsoil to a depth of one to three inches also. 
In August, or as soon as the soil beneath the blanket is 
rotted, it should be plowed again, this time with the 
stirring or stubble plow, cutting about two and a half 
inches deeper and following with the sub-surface packer, 
the same as outlined for ordinary stubble plowing. The 
harrowing should be very thorough. 

If care has been taken to conserve the rain waters 
and the work well done, this ground may be planted to 
fall wheat or to spring crops the following spring, after 
w^hich it should be treated the same as old ground, except 
to run the plow two inches deeper the next time. 

There is no economy, but on the other hand, great 
waste, in trying to econom^ize or minimize the amount 
of labor required to thoroughly prepare the soil for the 
sowing or planting of grain, for the work of thorough 
preparation is easily and quickly done, and when cnce 
done a successful harvest is assured. 



58 



CHAPTER IX. 



SUB-SURFACE PACKING. 

By sub-surface packing we mean the packing and 
firming of the soil at the bottom of the ordinary furrow 
by a mechanical process and the elimination of the open 
spaces between large lumps of the earth. 

To those who have been drilled in the theory of sub- 
soil plowing, and who have been taught that the chief 
thing is to open up the under soil as much as possible, 
or those who are not familiar • with the great difference 
there is in soils in different sections of the country, the 
suggestion of the necessity for firming the sub-surface 
will come as a shock. 

This sub-surface packing of the soil is something that 
even the professional students of the subject have found 
hard to understand. It is something against which 
some of them have protested, because they have failed 
to understand all that is involved. But it is a principle 
w^hich is making its own way. As we will show elsewhere 
the interest in the subject is increasing at a great rate. 
Appliances for accomplishing this result are becoming 
more and more in demand. Practical farmers are learn- 
ing that it is the thing. 

Sub-surface packing is a purely mechanical process. 
Special tools are on the market for doing this work, but 
no matter what tool or implement may be used, the prin- 
ciple is just the same, and results will follow in proportion 
to the success which has been attained in doing this nee- 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 59 

essary packing and at the right time. Elsewhere is de- 
scribed more in detail the sub-surface packer especially 
devised for doing this work, a machine which is winning 
its way because of demonstration that it has a mission 
to fulfill and is doing it. 

Sub-surface packing of the soil is a process of follow- 
ing, the plow immediately or otherwise with implements 
which crush down the loose soil of the under portion of 
the furrow slice, breaking up the large lumps, compact- 
ing the whole so that the particles of soil lie closer together 
and form a perfect connection between the unbroken 
earth beneath the surface and the loosened soil of the 
furrow. It is not compacting the surface layer as -by 
a roller, for that merely invites waste of the land as dust. 
It has reference solely to that portion of the soil which 
lies near the bottom of the cultivated upper soil. 

Nature has placed at the disposal of man all the nec- 
essary conditions and elements in the sand loam soils 
on the level prairies of the great semi-arid belt, together 
v/ith the properties of air and water, aided by heat and 
light, to produce large crops every year, but has wisely 
left it to man to work out the manner and method of 
combining these elements; and it is now apparent that 
the combining or utilizing of these elements must be upon 
strictly scientific principles, or in plain English, there 
must be correct principles under these ideal conditions 
and every part of the work must be done precisely at 
the proper time and in a correct manner. 

MISSION OF THE PACKER. 

The Sub-Surface Packer has a vital mission to per- 
form. . Its main object is not that of aiding in storing 
the moisture in the soil, but that of controlling or equal- 
izing the holding capacity of the soil for both air and water. 



60 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



It is not the purpose of this tool to simply hold up the 
present normal yield, but to greatly increase the present 
average yield by from 50 to 250 per cent. 

Experiments repeated over and over again in a variety 
of soils in the semi-arid belt, have proven conclusively 




Cut No. 3. Showing Soil as the Packer Leaves It. 

that in promoting or developing plant elements or fertility 
under such conditions that it may be available in large 
quantities, there must be in the soil just the proper quan- 
tity of both air and water. If there be too much water 
and too little air, or too little water and too much air, 
you cannot secure the best possible results. 



cambpell's soil culture manual 61 

In the latter lies the greatest danger, as a rule. If 
the soil is too coarse and loose, then the air exists in too 
large quantities, and the development of nitrates and bac- 
teria is proportionately slow. 

The condition has proven to be most ideal when the 
soil is thoroughly pulverized and closely compacted from 
the bottom of the furrow up to within two to three inches 
of the surface, while this surface layer of two or three 
inches, should be loose and composed of fine and medium 
lumps to allow of a free permeation of the air, and to 
prevent the moisture being depleted below the proper 
or normal quantity by surface evaporation. 

Another important advantage is gained by the pack- 
ing of this lower portion of the furrow slice, and that is, 
the increasing of the water holding capacity of the soil, 
enabling us to carry our plants over long dry periods 
without the least injury. There have been instances 
where this one advantage alone has made a difference 
of fifteen to twenty bushels per acre in the yield. 

MOVEMENT OF WATER IN SOIL. 

The movement of the water in the soil under varying 
conditions of the soil and the surface should be well un- 
derstood. A discussion of the subject may not seem of 
interest to the average farmer, yet the well established 
facts in regard to this subject have great weight when 
carefully considered in connection with the preparation 
of the soil for crops. It is a subject altogether, too broad 
and represents too much in dollars and cents to be held 
back from general use by mere prejudice or the skepti- 
cism that usually rises in the face of all new devices or 
methods. 

Professor F. H. King, of the University of Wisconsin, 
undoubtedly one of the most learned men in soil physics 



62 Campbell's soil culture manual 

we have in the West, if not in the country, in 1895 pub- 
lished a book entitled '^The Soil/' which book should be 
in the hands of every farmer. In treating the question 
of the effect of rolling on soil moisture, he says: 

''When, however, the changes in the water contents 
of the surface four feet of soil which follow the use of a 
heavy roller are studied, it is found that we have here a 
case of the translocation of soil moisture, a case where 
by destroying the many large non-capillary pores in the 
surface soil, and bringing its grains more closely together, 
its water-lifting power is increased and to such an extent 
that often within twenty-four hours after rolling the 
upper one or two feet beneath the firm ground have come 
to contain more moisture than similar and immediately 
adjacent land does at the same level, while the lower two 
feet have become dryer. Water has been lifted from* the 
lower into the upper soil. 

''In the table below will be seen the difference in the 
water contents of the soils which have been rolled and 
the immediately adjacent ones not so treated. These 
results are averages derived from one hundred and forty- 
seven sets of samples, therefore not a conclusion of theroy, 
but one of fact, from continued repeated practical results: 

Per cent of water 
"Surface 36 to 54 inches, unrolled, contained 19.73 
Surface 36 to 54 inches, rolled, contained 18.72 

Loss by rolling 1.01 

Surface 24 to 36 inches, unrolled, contained 19.85 
• Surface 24 to 36 inches, rolled, contained 19.29 

Loss by rolling 56 

Surface 2 to 18 inches, rolled, contained 16.85 
Surface 2 to 18 inches, unrolled, contained 15.64 

Gain by rolling 1 .21" 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



63 



ROLLING VS. SUB-SURFACE PACKING 

It is here seen that when samples of soil are taken at 
a depth exceeding two feet, the rolled ground as a whole 
is dryer than that not rolled, and that this difference is 
greater when the samples are taken at a depth of from 
three to four or more feet. The data presented also 
shows that the two to eighteen surface inches of loose 
ground recently firmed contains more water than that 
which has not been so treated. It is a matter we have 




ml^^^^^^m 




Cut No. 4. Showing Soil after Packing and Harrowing. 

carefully studied, and in all our experimental work we 
have observed that the statements of Professor King 
have been verified fully; thus affording conclusive proof 
of the truth of all that we have said with reference to the 
sub-surface packing of the soil. When the extreme sur- 
face is packed the effect is to draw the moisture to the 
surface where it is lost by evaporation. By the sub- 



64 



Campbell's soil cultuke manual 



packing, as shown in cut No. 4, we have that firm strat- 
um at the point where the roots mainly grow, and with 
our loose mulch on the surface we prevent the loss of 
our moisture by evaporation. 




Cut No. 5. Sub-surface Packer. 

Results obtained by Professor King in these one hun- 
dred and forty-seven tests certainly prove very effectually 
the correctness of the conclusion of sub-packing. We 
secure a much deeper or thicker stratum of packed soil 
than can possibly be secured from a surface roller. This 
would of itself create a greater force of capillary lifting 
power. Then again, and don't lose sight of this fact, 
as the sub-packed soil lifts the moisture it is not lost by 
evaporation as is the moisture from the surface packed^ 
but is held there beneath the loose surface or soil mulch. 
This fact causes an accumulation of moisture in the packed 
portion which further aids in the upward movement of 
the moisture from below. This translocation of water 
brought about by the sub-packing is of the highest im- 
portance when we reach the long dry periods so common 
in midsummer, a condition we rarely fail to get some- 
time each and every year. We have proven by practical 
tests, over and over again, that by this increased move- 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



65 



ment of the moisture the plant is amply supplied, under 
which conditions the damage so common is not only 
prevented, but the plant has been able to make a rapid^ 
healthy growth right through, while plants in ordinary 
manner have suffered and possibly been ruined because 
of shortage of moisture. 

When we reach a point in the extreme heated portion 
of the last afternoon prior to a heavy rain, where our 
supply of moisture is beginning to shorten, the fact that 
we have by this sub-surface packing been able to lift the 
water stored below a little faster may be the means of 
doubling or trebling the yield. 

Another point that has been but slightly touched upon 
is, that by this fine, firm substratum we are able to carry 
what might be quite properly termed a balanced quantity 
or ration of both air and water, thus bringing about that 
most ideal condition for the development of fertility. 

DEVELOPMENT OF ROQTS. 







Cut No. 6. Development of Roots in Firm Soil. 
In cut No. 6, we represent the cross section of a lat- 



66 Campbell's soil culture manual 

eral or branch root very largely magnified. The little 
branches running out from the center represent the little 
hair roots or feeders which are often so small that they 
are scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. These little 
feeders are neither more nor less than little tubes, or 
elongated cells. You will notice in the outer tier of cells 
each little feeder practically forms a part of the cell. The 
soil where this root is located is represented to be that 
ideal condition of fineness and firmness previously referred 
to, a condition that means so much to any plant, not 
only to sustain it in a healthy, growing condition, during 
critical drouthy conditions, but to 'promote a strong, 
healthy, rapid growth during the ideal climatic condi- 
tions. 

In cut No. 7, we represent a coarser or less compacted 
soil. Here the lateral root is only able to send out two 
little feeders. This condition is very serious. We have 
examined roots many times and found them three, four, 
and five inches in length, with scarcely a hair root or 
feeder the entire distance. Then coming, possibly, to 
the packed soil beneath a horse-foot track, we would find 
a complete net-work of little feeders running in every 
direction. The one great reason for this greatly increased 
number of feeders in the packed soil is the fact of its 
ideal physical condition with its perfectly balanced ration 
of plant foods, just what the little rootlets go out after 
when they start from the newly germinated seed. Just 
keep your mind on this one fact, not only in the study of 
this Manual, but in your field work and observation. 

^ MAKING THE SEED BED. 

It is hardly possible to put too much stress upon the 
point of thoroughly pulverizing and packing the seed 
bed. Probably the strongest or most complete practical 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



67 



illustration was brought out at the Pomeroy model farm, 
at Hill City, Kansas, in the growth and development of 
the wheat sown in the fall of 1901. This ground had been 
prepared with the greatest possible care, having been 
plowed seven inches deep, with the soil in a moist condi- 
tion, kept so by the disking and harrowing of the surface. 
When plowed, the plow was followed closely with the sub- 
surface packer, and the harrow following closely the sub- 
surface packer. By endeavoring to do all the work when 
the soil was in proper condition, we had secured a very 
favorable physical condition. At the time of seeding, 
October 8th, 9th, and 10th, there was a fine loose mulch 




No. 7. Root Development in Loose Soil. 

on the surface, two and one-half inches deep. The soil 
immediately beneath was very fine, firm and moist. The 
wheat was put in with a shoe drill, less than one-half 
bushel of seed to the acre, from one-half to one inch into 
this fine, moist soil, just beneath the mulch. Germi- 



68 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



nation and development were rapid. The fourth day, as 
regular as the days came after seeding, the little green 
spears could be seen the entire length of the row. On 
the seventh day these leaves measured from three to four 
inches high. Thus, in seven days, the hard, dry seeds 
had become moistened, burst their shells, sent out later- 
ally the little rootlets, and the little stalks had grown to 
a height of five or six inches from the seed. This is not 
all. On the sixteenth day of November, this wheat was 
taller and thicker than a field sown on the sixteenth day 
of September, with one and one-quarter bushels of seed on 
soil fitted without sub-packing. 

In cut No. 8, we have two conditions of soil. On 




Cut No. 8. Germination of Wheat Influenced by 
Firmness of Soil. 

the right we have the more common plan. Here we find 
the grain of wheat in somewhat coarse and loose soil, 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 69 

where the subsurface packer has not been used. It is in 
this kind of a seed bed that the wheat frequently remains 
all the fall without germinating; again it may sprout 
because of a shower only to wither and die from later dry 
windy weather, or perchance may absorb just enough 
to burst the shell and send the germ out slightly and a 
few feeble rootlets, then be completely ruined by the 
winter freezing because of a lack of moisture in the soil 
about the roots to draw the frost in thawing out. All 
this is because of an unbalanced ration, too much air and 
too little water. 

IDEAL CONDITION OF SOIL. 

On the left we have the ideal condition, a condition 
that can easily be attained at a nominal e:gpense. By 
the use of the sub-surface packer when the soil is in proper 
condition as previously explained, we get that fine, even 
firm condition as shown, to a depth of seven inches; then 
with a good harrow we secure the fine, loose mulch 
about two inches deep; with the closed heel shoe drill we 
provided that V-shaped opening about one inch in the 
firm soil into which the grain drops. As it reaches the 
bottom it is surrounded, except over the top, with fine, 
firm moist soil. The fine dirt that very naturally fills 
this opening as the shoe moves along, puts our wheat 
where all conditions are as nearly perfect to utilize the 
greatest quantity of the greatest number of nature's pro- 
visions or resources for the rapid, healthy prolific growth 
of the plant. 

The numerous small moist particles of soil that came 
in contact with the wheat conveys the moisture quickly 
and in ample quantities. This, coupled with the air from 
above brings about the very remarkable germination and 
development shown at the extreme left of cut No. 8 in the 
short space of five days. 



70 Campbell's soil culture manual 

Study well this illustration and note the varied condi- 
tions. The single grain at the right in the left hand sec- 
tion is simply to show the surrounding condition as it is 
deposited, compared with those in the loose soil to the 
right. Do not simply look at the illustration, but study 
the relative condition and reasonable results that may 
be anticipated from each, and to aid you in this conclu- 
sion, consider well what has already been said with ref- 
erence to the ideal physical or mechanical condition of 
the soil. 

QUICK GERMINATION 

This quick germination is always apparent in all our 
fields, and is invariably followed by early and prolific 
stooling, as.^shown in the chapter on wheat growing. 

On the Kilpatrick Brothers' ranch in Chase county, 
Nebraska, where we had directed the preparing of some 
ground for fall wheat in 1903, the wheat was sown Sep- 
tember 14th, two weeks after the last rain, the field being 
on a slope towards Champion, a town two and a half miles 
away. On the morning of the nineteenth, really but four 
days from seeding, the shape of the field was discernible 
from Champion by its green color. This statement may 
be emphasized from the fact that hundreds of acres of 
wheat were sown that fall, and not another one showed 
green that season. Because of over seven months without 
rain, beginning September 1st, the Kilpatrick wheat was 
all that was harvested in that county, making over thirty 
bushels to the acre, the rest being a total failure. 

As a further evidence, let us refer to some of the more 
common conditions that have occurred and many times 
puzzled the farmer in years gone by. 

In the spring of 1899 a large amount of winter wheat in 
the semi-arid belt was found to have been killed. We drove 



Campbell's soil culture manuax. 71 

over many fields that spring to investigate and study the 
cause as far as possible. One fact was invariably percep- 
tible — where the soil was light. and loose to a considerable 
depth, the wheat was entirely dead. In the more com- 
pact portions or spots in the fields, the condition of the 
wheat was found better. For instance, along the sides 
of the dead furrows almost all of the wheat was found to 
in a perfectly healthy condition, while on the back furrows 
it was usually all dead. Again, at the corners of the 
.fields where lands were plowed around, and the horses 
in turning had tramped and packed the plowed ground, 
the wheat was found to be in good condition. The horse 
foot and wheel tracks invariably had a favorable 
effect. This is a condition and result that is corroborated 
by all investigators, that if there is plenty of moisture in 
the ground there is little or no danger of freezing or winter 
killing, while if the soil is loose and becomes too dry serious 
results follow. The same was fully shown in the quota- 
tion from the Illinois Agricultural college bulletin, por- 
tions of which we quote under the heading of ''Raising 
Trees." These conditions bear out all observations, both 
with reference to the fact that packing the soil will increase 
the water contents of those portions, and the further fact 
as stated by the Illinois bulletin, that if there be plenty of 
moisture about the roots there is practically no injury 
from freezing. 

VALUE OF HEALTHY ROOT SYSTEM. 

One point which we have tried to impress upon our 
readers at different times, is the fact that plants cannot 
thrive and produce abundant yields without a perfectly 
healthy root system and a perfect root system is a phy- 
sical impossibility in coarse, loose soils. Professor King 
has shown by practical experiments, and all observation 



72 Campbell's soil culture manual 

confirms his conclusions, that in soil that is packed the 
moisture moves upward from a depth of -from one to four 
feet much more rapidly than in loose soil. It is therefore 
important to have this packing when a condition of 
extreme drouth is reached, as it may be the one thing 
that will save a crop. 

Another very marked advantage of this sub-packing 
was found in our work at the Burlington model farm 
at Holdrege, Nebraska. In 1905 a piece of ground was 
plowed for corn; a strip was left unpacked but all was 
well harrowed and the corn planted the same day. Where 
the packing was done, the stand of corn was perfect, while 
the strip not packed had hardly a two-thirds stand, and 
the entire season's growth showed the advantage of pack 
ing. While the use of the sub-surface packer has been 
found valuable in Wisconsin and Illinois, the further west 
we get into the semi-arid country, the greater is its import- 
ance, while in the more arid portions of the semi-arid belt 
its use is practically indispensible. 

It must be borne in mind that Professor King experi- 
mented in packing at the extreme surface, where near- 
ly all the moisture that had moved to this point was 
lost by evaporation, and that had the packing been done 
just below the surface the contrast would have been much 
greater. Professor King's experiments were on the grounds 
of the Wisconsin college, where soil moisture is invariably 
found all through the soil down to sheet water. Had 
they been made in our semi-arid region, the contrast would 
have been greater. If we get our soil moistened here to 
a depth of four or five feet we have exceeded by some 
distance the usual conditions, and this depth of soil moist- 
ure would be sufficient to carry us any ordinary season 
in the successful growth of crops. Had Professor King's 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 73 

experiments been made with a three inch layer of loose 
soil mulch above the packed portion, they would have 
shown a much greater increase of moisture at the point 
of two to eighteen inches. 

EFFECT OF THE SUB-PACKING. 

All these facts in connection with the movement of 
moisture in the soil, under different conditions of the soil, 
as indicated in the experiments noted and the teachings 
of the most eminent students of soil physics, give us the 
valuable lesson that the packing of the sub-soil, or what 
may be properly termed the root-bed, aids us in these 
important points; increasing the water holding capacity 
of the soil facilitates the movement of the water from 
below up to this point when it is needed. 

The last but by no means least of the advantages de- 
rived from this sub-packing outside of what has been 
already mentioned, is that by the increased upward move- 
ment of moisture previously explained, we are able to keep 
up the supply of moisture about the roots to that degree 
that nitrification and the development of fertility continues 
though the weather be hot and parching, and the plant 
is growing rapidly, and yet through this ideal condition 
we are able to keep up the supply of plant elements in a 
soluble condition, thus giving to the plant that dark green, 
healthy, prolific growth without a set-back, which is, by 
the way, the secret of large yields. 

Now let us take a last look at the field of grain trying 
to exist on a piece of land the root-bed of which is coarse 
and loose. The excessive heat has caused such a rapid 
evaporation from thj leaf and the upward movement of 
moisture by capilliary attraction has been so slow that 
the moisture abou'j the roots has become so depleted that 
nitrification ceases; all fertility has become unavailable, 



74 Campbell's soil culture manual 

the plant has taken on a pale, unhealthy look, and upon 
the time in season, and the duration of the period of 
drouth, depends the extent of injury to the crop. 

This is so important that it may be stated again plainly, 
so that no reader may misunderstand. The process of 
packing the under portion of furrow or plowed ground 
creates five conditions to aid in carrying the growing crop 
over long dry periods, namely: 

1. More water in the soil. 

2. A stronger capillary movement of water. 

3. More prolific growth of roots. 

4. A more rapid development of nitrates and bac- 
teria. 

5. A larger per cent of available fertility or plant 
elements during drouthy periods or conditions. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 75 



CHAPTER X. 



SUMMER CULTURE. 

Under this caption we must of necessity, reiterate 
much that has been said in previous chapters, as it com- 
bines more ideas of soil tillage into new forms, combina- 
tions and uses than any other chapter. In fact, it was 
during our early experiments along this line that we dis- 
covered the marvelous possibilities of the soils under semi- 
arid conditions. 

It was also while working out the most desirable meth- 
ods in detail in Summer Culture that we first became fully 
convinced that the average yield of all cultivated fields 
in the more arid sections could be made to produce not 
only two and three times as much fodder and grain as haa 
been heretofore produced in good years, but that good 
yields could be made certain in dry seasons, and it is since 
we have been proving the correctness of some of our con- 
clusions along these lines, that Scientific Soil Culture has 
become recognized as the great factor in all agricultural 
development. 

While many of the ideas and combination of ideas of 
Summer Culture are new, and their application and effect 
in the more humid sections are not yet fully proven ; yet 
it is very apparent that the principles will prove of great 
value under all conditions and in all farming sections, 
but not to the same degree under humid conditions as 
under more arid conditions. 



76 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



In discussing the details in general through this chapter 
we refer almost entirely to the soils and conditions ofthe 
more arid section. 

In the development or promotion of many new de- 
vices that came into use simply as a matter of convenience 




A B 

Cut No. 9. Summer Culture vs. Summer Fallow, (a) Summer 

Culture as Applied by the Campbell Method, (b) Summer 

Fallow as Commonly Applied. 

or pleasure or added comfort, great interest and enthu- 
siasm is not uncommon. Again we see books of fiction 
put upon the market that soon find their way into nearly 
all homes, simply for amusement or entertainment. 

Here comes a new science that means dollars to mil- 
lions of people, not in a commercial way by which one 
makes a profit from another, but by bringing more wealth 
out of mother earth and filling increased granaries with 
but little extra expense beyond learning how — and once 
learning, you are always in position to command bigger 
incomes and get them. 



Campbell's soil culture mainual 77 

Summer Culture has been confounded with Summer 
Fallow, the methods are so different that any conclusion 
that may have been derived from Summer Fallow exper- 
iments by our agricultural experts would not apply to 
Summer Culture; therefore, many of the objections held 
up or against Summer Fallow do "not apply at all to Sum- 
nier Culture, The most prominent is the rotation results. 

EXPERIMENTS IN ROTATION. 

For illustration, take the eight year rotation at the 
South Dakota Experiment Station under the direction 
of E. C. Chilcott up to 1906. 

We would first call attention to some of the state- 
ments made in the bulletin with reference to the handling 
of the ground. Referring to summer fallow, they say all 
summer fallowed plats are plowed in July before any 
weeds have ripened their seeds, and are plowed again 
with the other plats in the fall. They are given no other 
cultivation during the season. 

Referring to the corn plats they say corn is drilled in 
rows one way. It is given good clean cultivation with 
the -drag, weeder and cultivator, each in its proper season. 
Referring to the preparation of the ground for the various 
plats, wheat, oats, and barley, they say. ''The plats are 
plowed in the fall, usually in September, crosswise of the 
series. This necessarily involves plowing the corn ground 
and potato ground. We have found by other experi- 
ments that where the crop has been properly cultivated 
and kept clean there is on the average very little difference 
to be seen in the following crop whether the corn ground 
is plowed or whether it is drilled in without plowing. The 
ground is plowed at depths varying in different years 
from five to seven inches. As early as possible the in 
spring the ground is harrowed twice with an ordinary 
steel harrow." 



78 cambpell's soil culture manual 

From this kind of fitting as stated for each particular 
field the following results were obtained. From a seven 
years' rotation, wheat after corn, the average yield of 
wheat was 15.9 bushels. In the rotation of wheat with 
summer fallow, same number of years, the average yield 
of the wheat was 15.8. In these rotations two sets of 
plats were used so that there was a crop of wheat to har- 
vest each year, making a fair and apparently honest com- 
parison not only with the results between rotating with 
summer fallow or with corn, but of these yields against 
wheat continuously. 

Seven consecutive crops of wheat on same field showed 
an average of 13.7 bushels. We wish to call attention 
to the fact that the rotation with corn or summer fallow 
only gave a gain of slightly more than two bushels per 
acre, 

REAL SUMMER CULTURE. 

We would also call attention to the manner of summer 
fallow, and as a comparison, note carefully our instruc- 
tions under the heading of summer culture. 

Compare the above results as taken from Bulletin No. 
98, South Dakota Agricultural College, with the Pomeroy 
Model Farm at Hill City, Kansas, where the results after 
our plan of summer culture in four consecutive years, 
1901 to 1904 inclusive, the average was over forty bushels 
per acre, while wheat in the same locality, grown under 
the ordinary methods of tillage averaged less than ten 
bushels. It will be noticed that the above four years 
included the very unfavorable seasons of 1901 and 1904, 
in which a large per cent of the wheat in that locality was 
a total failure. At Holdrege, Nebraska, which is 200 
miles west of Omaha, the lowest yield of wheat rotated 



Campbell's soil culture manual 79 

with summer culture for three years has been 51| bushels, 
and in each case the wheat tested 62| to 64 pounds per 
bushel. 

At Trenton, Hitchcock county, Nebraska, in 1904, 
where 90 per cent of over 20,000 acres of wheat sown 
was a total failure, a field having been summer tilled ac- 
cording to our plan, yielded 41 bushels of 60 pound wheat. 
We refer to these very marked contrasts between the re- 
sults of wheat rotated with summer fallow and wheat 
rotated with summer culture to show clearly and dis- 
tinctly that there is not only a difference in methods, but 
a very marked difference in results. 

results of tilling. 

At the North Platte branch station of the Nebraska 
State Agricultural College a piece of ground was summer 
tilled in 1904, sowed to wheat that fall with seed ranging 
from one-half bushel to one bushel per acre. The result 
of this excessive seeding was an enormous growth of 
wheat during 1905. The vast amount of fertility that 
was made available by the careful tillage of this field in 
1904 resulted in an unusual amount of stooling, making 
the wheat altogether too thick, consequently straw was too 
weak^ and before harvest time it all went down flat, and 
could not be cut with a binder, neither could it be cut 
with a mower. ■ This crop was left on the ground, until the 
spring of 1906, when it was burned off and sowed to barley 
and yielded 62 bushels per acre. This in fa'ce of the fact 
that some plats fitted under the ordinary methods in the 
immediate vicinity and sowed to barley yielded practically 
nothing. 

We could quote many similar results, but what seems 
a little strange is that we should have been farming in 
this country for more than a hundred years and yet no 



so 



one got onto the fact that by a little different method of 
handling the soil three and four ttimes as much grain 
might be produced. 

We do not refer to South Dakota for any special rea- 
son, other than it is a fair illustration of work done by all 
the stations and shows very conclusively how easy it is 
to become wedded to theory and beleive it to be right, 
though it may be. wrong in practice. 

DIFFICULTY OF EXPERIMENTS. 

Again we must repeat the fact that soil culture is one 
of the most, if not the most, complex science we have, 
for the reason that we cannot see what is going on in the 
soil below the surface. A certain thing done under cer- 
tain soil conditions will produce certain results, while the 
same mechanical work under slightly changed conditions 
will not bring the same results at all. 

Another serious drawback to rapid development along 
correct lines is the fact that twelve long months are required 
between each experiment. Then the experimenter may 
follow out the same line for three, five or ten years, and 
just as he begins to think he has established a point he 
finds that what he supposed to be the influencing element 
has practically nothing to do with the result. 

We frequently find experimenters that have spent al- 
most a lifetime on certain lines of experiments with con- 
fidence in the correctness of their position; then through 
some chain of circumstances find they are wrong and 
change their tactics entirely. To us it seems almost 
ridiculous for the average farmer to attempt to conduct 
any experiment in soil tillage with a hope of new and 
valuable light. Let him rather spend his efforts in proving 
what those with facilities have worked out. 

Theory is one thing, a practical demonstrated fact is 



Campbell's soil culture manual 81 

quite another. What the farmer wants to know is how 
he can get the largest profit from his farm in a series of 
years. If he be a stock grower it matters little how sci- 
entific he may be in the handling and feeding of his stock — 
if his crop is short his profits are proportionately short. 

AVERAGE GRAIN YIELD. 

If he depends upon the sale of fodders and grains for 
profits, then his profits are very materially increased by 
even a slight increase in yield. For illustration, the aver- 
age yield per acre of wheat for the following states for 
twelve years, 1893 to to 1904 inclusive, was: Illinois, 13.3 
bushels; Minnesota, 14 bushels; North Dakota, 12.6 
bushels; South Dakota, 10.2 bushels; Nebraska, 13.5 
bushels; and Kansas, 12.3 bushels. 

Now suppose a farmer raises about the average or 13 
bushels, from this must come all the expense of raising, 
threshing, interest on land, investm^^nt or rental, wear 
and tear, or use of teams and tools, and when you figure 
up as above and balance your account there is practically 
nothing left for the farmer. 

Thirteen bushels of wheat per acre is about one-fourth 
of the producing powers of any of the good lands in all 
of the above states, or any other similar lands, and less 
than one-third of the smallest yield we have gotten fol- 
lowing summer tilling, where the work was properly done 
in any one year during the past seven years. Supposing 
that the farmer doubles the 13 bushels, the last 13 bushels 
is nearly all profit, except the cost of threshing and mar- 
keting. All that is necessary to get this increased yield 
is to get the soil into a more scientific or correct physical 
condition, and when this same amount of labor that was 
required to fit the soil for the 13 bushel crop is applied. 



82 Campbell's soil culture manual 

not foolishly and recklessly, but at the right time and in 
the right manner, there is needed but little more extra 
work. 

Let us go a little further, and with just a little more 
extra labor, and only a little, put in scientifically, and we 
will get three times the 13 bushel yield or 39 bushels, 
and yet a little more labor and four times the amount, 
or 52 bushels can be grown. This has been done — yes. 
and as high as 63 and over — in several instances, and the 
60 bushel point can be easily reached in many places, 
if the principles we shall outline are carefully followed. 
Think of it a moment — four and a-half times as much as 
the average of all these states for twelve years. 

HOW SUMMER TILLING SHOULD BE DONE. 

Begin the work as early in the spring as the frost is 
sufficiently out of the ground, and the surface dry enough 
to permit the use of the disk harrow without the soil ad- 
hering to the disk, going over the ground twice by lapping 
the disk one half. This produces a mulch which prevents 
evaporation; also loosens and opens the surface, so that 
the later rains readily and quickly percolate into the soil, 
harrowing the ground after each subsequent rain. If the 
rain is too heavy so as to dissolve and pack the surface, 
a second disking may be necessary, especially so if the 
season is advanced far enough for weeds to start freely. 
Don't at all hazards permit the weeds to grow or the sur- 
ace to become crusted. A Uttle carelessness here may 
and often does make ten or twenty bushels less yield in 
wheat, and proportionally similar losses to other crops. 

Bear in mind there are three objects in conducting 
this work with great care. First, is to retain all the moist- 
ure possible that may be then in the soil, for the evapora- 
tion in early spring is very great from both the strong rays 



Campbell's soil culture manual 83 

of the sun, and in most localities the high spring winds 
take up much moisture. Second, is to loosen the surface 
that it may more readily and more surely take in all the 
water from the spring rains. Third, but by no means 
least, to admit the warm spring air that nature's labora- 
tory may be put early to work preparing the way for large 
quantities of available fertility or plant elements. Plow 
late in June or early July, seven to eight inches deep. Do 
not leave the field at noon until that which has been 
plowed during the forenoon has been gone over with the 
sub-surface packer. Then at night the same, and if you 
use the packer follow it with some kind of a harrow or 
cultivator that will leave the surface witfi a light loose 
mulch, breaking thp larger clods and leveling, so far as it 
may be possible, the top of the firm soil beneath. 

The common lever harrow produces very fair condi- 
tions. There are, however, three or four much improved 
devices for this work being perfected, which will doubtless 
be found on the market' very soon. 

KEEP AHEAD OF THE WEEDS. 

In June and July weeds are quite persistent and great 
care should be taken not to let them get the start. In 
fact there is but little danger of weeds if you take care 
to lose no water by evaporation. All weeds are easily 
killed when small, but after the tap root has gone down 
and become firmly imbedded, it is not easy to destroy 
them„ Watch the condition of your field, going over it 
as soon after a heavy rain as the soil will permit, using 
the tool which you use to keep your mulch open 
and loose; care should be taken to keep the mulch from 
two and a-half to three inches deep. Remember, it is 
not desirable to have this mulch too fine, and never a dust 
blanket. It will be found very much easier to secure a 



84 Campbell's soil culture manual 

mulch of desirable coarseness, if the cultivating is done 
after rains when the surface soil has reached the moist 
condition, not wet, and yet before it gets dry. Continue 
this persistent care through the season; in case of extreme 
heat more frequent cultivation is necessary. Our rule is 
to watch carefully the firm soil just beneath the mulch 
and gauge our time of cultivation during continued dry 
periods by the quantity of apparent moisture, observed 
at the top of the firm soil beneath the mulch, or if we 
move the loose soil away and find there is ample moisture, 
the protection is all right. If the top is beginning to show 
dry, then it is time to cultivate again. 

EARLY SPRING WORK. 

If desirable to put in spring crops, it is a good idea to 
thoroughly disk the ground as it goes into the winter. 
This will bring some of the moist firm soil to the top and 
better protect from winds, also leaving the surface mce 
uneven, to catch the snow, if in a country where snow-- 
storms are looked for. 

In the early spring, as soon as spring conditions will 
permit, the ground should be gone over for the purpose 
of reestablishing the soil mulch. Should the snows and 
rains have been ample to have considerably packed the 
surface, the disk harrow may of necessity have to be used, 
although much depends on the kind of a harrow or culti- 
vator you may have. These are points of which the 
precise how cannot be specified; get the idea, then use 
good judgment as to the how and when, and the kind of 
tool. 

In case of fall seeding to winter wheat, rye or oats, 
care should be taken, especially in the more arid sections 
where fall rains of any magnitude are less probable, to 
have at least two inches and a-half of fine loose soil on the 



Campbell's soil culture manual 8^ 

Surface, and if the seed bed is made fine and firm, as above 
outlined, not more than one-third of the usual amount 
of seed is necessary. Under these conditions place the 
seed from a half to one inch into the.fine firm soil, not over 
that, and by all means if you are getting a new drill, pur- 
chase the closed heel shoe drill or some drill that will leave 
the seed in firm soil. 

SECURING ideal CONDITIONS. 

Cut No. 16 represents the most ideal soil conditions and 
shows the effect of depositing the seed in its proper place, 
with the closed heel shoe drill, the principal advantages 
of which are set forth in the chapter on wheat growing. 

While our methods of summer culture involve some 
httle extra work over the old or more common methods 
of summer fallow or general preparation for crops; yet 
you must consider fully and carefully two points. First, 
that the object of summer culture is not only to store 
ample moisture below so that we may be able to carry 
our next crop through to maturity, no matter how dry the 
season may be without ill effect from the droughty condi- 
tion, but further to provide and steadily maintain such 
an ideal physical condition of the soil during the entire 
spring and summer, as shall permit of a most liberal 
development of bacteria and nitrate or available fertility, in 
order that we may grow and mature a very large crop of 
whatever we plant, no matter what the season may be^ 

What we mean by a very large crop is, two and three 
times as much as the average farmer has been producmg 
per acre by the old or more common methods. Can this 
be done? Yes; and we have proven it by repeated results 
each year during seven consecutive years; beginning with 



86 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAi, 

the year 1900, increasing the certainty and magnitude of 
these yields as we learned more of the correct principles 
in detail. 

CLIMATE NOT RESPONSIBLE. 

It is altogether too common an idea that the quantity 
and quality of the crop depends upon climatic conditions. 
This does not apply to the semi-arid belt. The success 
of the farmer depends entirely upon the quantity and. 
quality of the grains and vegetables he raises. Under the 
ordinary plan of farming the expense of preparing, plant- 
ing and cultivating is just the same whether we get fifty 
bushels of corn or five bushels or none at all. If we pro- 
ceed properly the necessary labor may be fifty per cent 
more, but even if it were double and we succeed in getting 
thirty to sixty bushels of wheat in seasons when our 
neighbors under ordinary conditions get five or ten, does 
it pay? If we are able to get eighty bushels of corn when 
our neighbor gets thirty, does it pay? 

By holding the moisture near the surface during the 
heated portions of the season we succeed in securing a 
more complete decomposition of the vegetable matter in 
our soil, passing it on to the stage known as humus, which 
is a most valuable element in the soil. The more humus 
we have the greater amount of moisture we can hold in 
the ground. This, coupled with the amount of moisture 
that we are able to store, and the improvement of the 
physical condition of the soil by the disking, plowing and 
frequent cultivation in our summer culture, brings about 
four conditions By the very fine, compact condition, 
our soil will hold more water, consequently our plant is 
less liable to suffer from a lack of water during extreme 
heat. This packed condition is also, from the fact of the 
more minute pores in the soil, favorable to a more rapid 



cambpell's soil culture manual 87 

movement of moisture by capillary attraction, and last 
but not least, conducive to a more prolific growth, and a 
more general and uniform distribution of the roots. 

Fourth, and by no means least, is the fact that under 
this condition of the soil) we are able to carry in the soil 
just the proper quantity of both air and water, which 
together with the heat, brings about that certain chemical 
action necessary for the development of the large quanti- 
ties of fertility. When the pores in the soil" are too large 
and soil coarse and loose, too much air is prevalent and 
little or no development of plant elements is possible. 
All four of these conditions are exceedingly important 
in seasons like that of 1901, when weeks go by with con- 
tinuous extreme heat and no rain, and such seasons or 
'conditions always come without warning. 

POSSIBILITIES IN THE SEMI-ARID COUNTRY. 

It is our opinion, based on practical results and ob- 
servation of conditions similar to those in western Kansas 
that by the summer culture plan, storing the water the 
entire season and raising crops the following year, much 
larger average crops may be grown than the present aver- 
age in Iowa or Illinois. In fact, we do not believe we 
overdraw when we say that in the more arid portions of the 
semi-arid belt, by the summer culture plan, only cropping 
every other year, we can raise more wheat at less cost 
in ten years than can be grown in the more humid portions 
of the belt in ten consecutive crops by the ordinary plan. 
By our method we have the advantage of only seeding 
half the land and only harvesting half the land. The 
great value of work along this line lies in grasping fully 
the idea of storing and conserving the rain waters, and 
studying carefully the necessary physical condition of the 
soil and endeavoring to bring it to the highest degree of 
perfection. 



88 Campbell's soil culture manual 

If water is stored in the soil of our western prairies; 
nature has formed perfect and complete conditions to 
bring this moisture back by capillary attraction to that 
stratum, or one known as the root bed, where it not only 
plays its part as drink for the plant, but as above stated 
to keep up its part in combination with other elements 
in the development of available plant elements, upon 
which the plant not only exists but thrives during pro- 
longed dry periods, causing a prolific growth instead of 
withering and sometimes total failure under the coarser 
or more common conditions of the soil. 

OF universal application. 

In fact, when the conditions are understood and the 
necessary labor properly applied, records of phenomenal 
yields will be numerous as far west as the foot hills of the 
Rockies. 

The following from E. F. Stevens, of the Crete nursery, 
shows the value of summer culture, even in the more 
humid portions of the semi-arid belt. He says: ''Regard- 
ing the possibility of carrying moisture conserved one 
year over into the next season for use for the next crop, 
we remember that one year we grew a crop of seedlings 
on elevated tahle lands on a part of the divide between 
the Blue and Salt creek, just southeast of Crete. Seed- 
lings for their best growth require very frequent culti- 
vatiouo They are cultivated weekly and oft times twice 
a week, to secure the best possible growth and the best 
grade obtainable in a few months. This superior culture 
conserved moisture, but we did not so understand it then. 
As a rule a crop of seedlings does not take up all the annual 
rainfall, so quite a portion of this conserved moisture 
was carried over until the next season. The following 



Campbell's soil culture manual 89 

year on this plat of ground previously devoted to seed- 
lings, as above stated, we secured 105 bushels and forty 
pounds of corn per acre." 

This marvelous yield referred to by Mr. Stevens is the 
direct result of the careful cultivation which resulted in 
storing a large surplus of moisture, and it is fair and rea- 
sonable to conclude that equally as good, if not better, 
results may be gained in any portion of Nebraska, Kansas, 
or western Iowa and Missouri, by following our plan of 
summer culture. 

To get the best results the farmer's mind must be clear 
on three important points: That the ground must be in 
proper condition when all his work is done on the soil; 
that he must have a good, fine and firm root bed or seed 
and an abundance of moisture stored below. 

A REMARKABLE ILLUSTRATION. 

In closing this chapter it may be very interesting as 
well as very conclusive evidence of the correctness of our 
claims, to give a few of the very marked conditions that 
surrounded some of the fields of wheat in the spring of 
1904 on the Pomeroy Model Farm at Hill City, Kansas, 
during the long continued early drouth. When most 
fields under ordinary methods of cultivation were showing 
no growth and no apparent moisture, the Model farm 
wheat was- making rapid growth carrying a dark green 
color, while five feet of moisture was found below. An- 
other field near Grainfield, Kansas, was in the same con- 
dition; another near Champion, Nebraska, and another 
near Trenton, Nebraska. The latter yielded forty-one 
bushels per acre, while ninety per cent of the entire wheat 
crop in that localitv was a total failure. Every wheat 
field in western Nebraska and Kansas might have yielded 
as much as the Trenton field had the land been treatcl 



90 Campbell's soil culture manual 

by our method and the heavy rains of 1903 stored in the 
soil and reserved for the long dry spring of 1904. Do 
not confound summer culture with summer fallowing. 
They are different. 

Summer culture previous to seeding to alfalfa will in- 
sure a positive and even catch and a fair crop the first 
season. 

Summer culture for the storing of the rain waters in 
the soil, although comparatively new as outlined, is a most 
important adjunct in farming in the West, 

Begin your summer culture as early in the spring as 
the conditions will let you on the ground with your disk 
harrow. Don't let the weeds grow, thinking they are 
valuable as a fertilizer to turn under. The moisture they 
take from the ground is worth far more to you in growing 
the next crop. 

The purposes of summer culture are many, but the 
most prominent of all that it never fails to bring about to 
a most marvelous degree is to change a field of very normal 
crop growing ability to one of almost incomprehensible 
producing powers in just ordinary seasons. So marked 
are the results that all ^orts of doubting Thomases appear 
and present many theories, but we urge the student to 
throw away all skeptical influences. Study well the prin- 
ciples and apply them with as much correctness as pos- 
sible and draw your own conclusion as to certainty of 
results and. causes of results. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 91 



CHAPTER XI. 



PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE- SOIL. 

By the physical condition of the soil we refer to the 
proper preparation and that final condition of the soil that 
so completely regulates or governs its producing powers. 

There is no subject less understood toda}^ and there is 
no one branch of agricultural science so vital to the suc- 
cess of the farmer as a thorough knowledge of soil physics. 

The man who delves down into the very heart of this 
subject and follows every line and branch until he ferrets 
out all the dark secrets of controlling and utilizing na- 
ture's great resources now lying dormant in our great 
prairies, will do more for suffering humanity than any 
half dozen men have ever yet done. 

It is our candid opinion that when this is accomplished; 
grain will be produced so much cheaper because of the 
greatly increased yield per acre, that bread will be pro- 
vided at much less than the present cost. 

Millions are being spent by the United States govern- 
ment in building enormous reservoirs and miles of expen- 
sive ditches, and millions more in scanning other coun- 
tries far and wide for improved plants and seeds, but all 
this combined cannot provide as many prosperous farmers 
or cheapen the cost of production like the thorough knowl- 
edge of soil physics and soil culture. 

It is appalling to think that we have so many men 
who know all about the soil and its tillage, or think they 



92 Campbell's soil culture manual 

do, and yet so very little has been accomplished in 
increasing the average yield of our great and magnificent 
prairies. 

The average yield of all grains in Nebraska and Kansas 
in 1906 was from 15 to 30 per cent greater than any one 
previous year in the past twenty years. Many say 
this is due to more favorable climatic conditions, but this 
is not wholly true. A good portion is due to a better 
knowledge of the soils and how to till them; and yet it is 
possible by a still more comprehensive knowledge of these 
soils and what physical condition it is necessary to reach to- 
gether with the how, when and where, to attain that de- 
gree that we may be able to liberate and utilize all na- 
tures' resources. We shall then see the average yield as 
shown in the above states in 1906, easily doubled, and 
what is true of these states is proportionately true of all 
other similar states. Why this subject, so vital to the 
the welfare of our country, has been so neglected in the 
past Vv^e cannot comprehend. 

There will be some little gained by seed breeding and 
seed selection and a little by acclimating plants, a little 
by crop rotation, but not until rotation is better 
understood than it is now. Possibly some material gain 
may be made by the introduction of the so-called drouth- 
resisting plants. But the great and lasting change that 
is certainly on its way, must come through a broader 
and more practical knowledge of soil physics. 

FORCES THAT AWAIT DEVELOPMENT. 

Few tillers of the soil realize how easily the silent 
forces that lie beneath our feet within this inert soil over 
which we walk and have been taught to almost shun, can 
by timely direction and control be .made to minister unto 
us by yielding up from mother earth bountiful crops. Sad 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 93 

indeed it is that so many through a chain of circumstances 
have been led to look upon farming, especially the actual 
tillage of the soil, as wearisome toil, uncertain of its re- 
ward. 

If they could be only made to see that kind Provi 
dence has intended that man should have dominion over 
all things, and set themselves at work to learn how they 
may intelligently command nature's resources that certain 
obedience may be secured, then toil would be changed to 
healthful, inspiring, agreeable work. 

We wish to prove to you that nature has provided 
all necessary elements on these broad, level prairies of 
the semi-arid belt to grow cereals, vegetables, forage and 
fruits in such quantities and of such quality as to make 
the most sanguine minds marvel, when proper tillage is 
applied. 

To do this the tiller of the soil must learn what to do; 
when to do it, how to do it, and why he works the soil 
by this method which enables nature to reveal all the pos- 
sibilities she stores in this workshop for an unlimited 
supply of crop material. We will show you that it does 
not require a vast amount of hard and expensive labor 
to get large results, but it does require effort with knowl- 
edge and judgment. Just as a valuable machine may be 
made powerless and useless by the wrong or slack adjust- 
ment of some bolt or nut, so in the mechanical preparation 
of the soil success in the highest degree depends on doing 
the right thing at the right time and in the right manner. 
You could^ not put a valuable machine together unless 
you knew something of mechanics. You cannot properly 
till the soil and extract from it all that nature has stored 
there for your use unless you understand some of the sim- 
ple rules of soil physics. 



94 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

Much misleading matter has been printed on the sub- 
ject of soil physics and in discussing available soil fertility. 
Professor Milton Whitney, chief of the bureau of soils, 
United States department of Agriculture, says in Bulletin 
No. 22, issued by the department, ''That there is no apparent 
relation between the chemical composition of the soil as 
determined by the methods of analysis used, and the 
yields of crops; but that the chief factor determining the 
yield is the physical condition of the soil under suitable 
climatic conditions." 

It is our candid opinion, based on more than twenty 
years' of observation and experience, that it is to the 
highest interest to the farmer to give little attention to 
the chemical properties of his soil until he has learned' 
well and carefully its necessary physical condition in order 
that he may utilize nature's many elements and forces 
fovmd in the soil, also in the air, water, heat and light. 

The general properties of the component parts of the 
average high level prairies of the semi-arid belt are all 
that could be desired. In the cultivation of these soils 
every precaution should be taken to prevent at any and 
all times during the year any loss of moisture by evapora- 
tion. It is highly important that these soils never be 
allowed to dry out. Upon this fact depends much. 

Roberts in his book on the ''Fertility of the Land," 
says: "The percolation of rain waters not only conserves 
the plant food but improves the physical condition of the 
land. Just as soon as the soil becomes depleted of its 
moisture it becomes dead or dormant and life ceases." 

TIME TO WORK THE SOIL. 

In order to secure the best possible physical condition, 
the greatest care should be exercised to do the plowing, 
packing and cultivating while the soil is mojst. When the 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 95 

soil is moist, as all observing farmers know, the soil grains 
more readily separate one from the other. The real or 
desirable object of plowing is not simply to turn the soil 
over, but in addition to turning the soil is the pulverizing 
The more thoroughly this is done the better opportunity 
the heat, air and moisture have to exercise their full power 
to combine all the properties into plant foods so that they 
may be available to the plant. 

So far as we can grasp the true principles regarding the 
necessary physical conditions, they are found in recogniz- 
ing the following facts, viz.: 

First — That fertility is not matter, or a substance, 
or something that exists in the soil in given quantities 
and makes plants grow if the seed is put in the soil, regard- 
less of how it is tilled or fitted. 

Second — That the growth of all plants dependsp uon 
the quantity and force or energy of the available fertility, 
and this is great or small just in proportion to the phys- 
ical or mechanical condition of the soil. 

Third — That the soil is nature's laboratory, whore 
the proportion of air and water may be combined in just 
the proper quantities. If the soils are too coarse and lie 
too loose, then there is too much air for the water the soil 
can hold, and with the most ideal climatic conditions 
only fairly good crops can possibly be grown. 

Fourth — That water is a vital element in all vegetable 
growth, but it is not the only element that the tiller of the 
soil must see to. Air is equally important, and in all 
tillage, air must be recognized and the soil prepared with 
an eye to utilizing it just as nature demands. Give nature 
a chance and she will do wonders, but don't expect too 
much without some intelligent effort on your part. 



96 Campbell's soil culture manual 

The plants under proper conditions show a dark, healthy 
green color, and grows rapidly. Remember that the root 
growth in all grains is always in excess of the plant above 
ground, and that root growth is greatest in soil that is fine 
"and firm in which there is held all the moisture than can 
be carried by capillary force, and that it is apparently 
impossible by ordinary mechanical work to j^^et the average 
sand loam soil in the great semi-arid section so firm that 
it cannot carry at the same time the necessary amount 
of air. 

PERFECT soil CONDITIONS. 

Let us assume for further illustration or explanation 
that we have just the ideal condition for holding and 
carrying the proper quantity of air and water in the soil. 
The sun is warming the soils, chemical action is doing its 
work, the wheat, oats or barley is three or four inches high, 
a rain comes of some little magnitude which dissolves 
and packs the soil mulch on the surface, then the sun 
comes out and the plants improve for a little time, but at 
this point look out, for we are approaching the danger 
point, not of the total loss of the crop but of getting the 
highest possible yield, which should be our aim at all 
times. 

If by certain more carefully fitted soil conditions, you 
can get 50 bushels of wheat per acre instead of 10 to 20 
bushels per acre, is it not worth digging for? 

This is no visionary or imposible thought, but a stern 
truth, that only requires a little careful study and intelli- 
gent application, after first stepping away from those old, 
stubborn prejudices, that theory alone had prompted you 
to cling so tenaciously to. 

The packing of the surface by the rain will cause an 



Campbell's soil culture manual 97 

upward inovement of moisture which is brought from the 
root zone or stratum by capillary attraction to the surface 
and evaporated. 

The warm sun has set the vigorous plant to work 
pumping water by means of its many little rootlets up 
through the stalk and out the leaf. With these two forces^ 
at work your moisture is soon depleted below the normal,, 
and chemical action becomes slower. 

Another dangerous factor is also at work, the moisture 
that is rising to the surface is carrying with it the mag- 
nesia, alkalies and salts so prevalent in our prairie soils,, 
in a soluble or dissolved condition, and as they reach the 
surface the moisture is lost in vapor. 

These mineral substances are deposited between th^ 
surface soil grains, and if this process goes on long enough 
the surface becomes solid and the air nearly or quite ex- 
cluded. The moment this condition becomes general 
practically all growth ceases from a lack of air though 
there may be plenty of moisture. Therefore the vital 
importance of harrowing this surface as explained in other 
chapters. 

The Cut No 9 on page 76 illustrates quite clearly the 
ideal physical condition as compared with the more com- 
mon haphazard manner. Study the two views carefully, 
and think of what you have seen in the field and how 
different were the results. 

It is our opinion that upon this ideal physical condi- 
tion of the soil grains as shown in the above cut, as well 
as others shown in previous chapters, depends very largely 
the magnitude and quality of the crop. This conclusion 
is not based on theory, but upon results obtained in many 
tests following these lines. 



98 Campbell's soil culture manual 

We have invariably found growth most rapid and the 
plants most healthful when the soil was fine and firm 
where the roots were growing, with the surface two inches 
or more loose and open, and ample moisture stored below 
to a depth of four or more feet, and this so long as there 
is the required quantity of air and water in that portion 
beneath the mulch where the principal feeding roots are 
located. By the aid of heat chemical action is going on 
and fertility is being made available in large quantities. 
Now the great point is to keep up this kind of condition, 
if it can be done through the growing season. Phenom- 
enal results are sure to come, if there is not too much seed, 
or some fungus or insect pest at hand^ Too much seed 
is very commonly the cause of a yield below the possible 
result on soil ideally fitted and especially is this true of 
oats and wheat. 



Campbell's sbil culture manual 99 

• 



CHAPTER XII. 



SOIL FERTILITY. 

That which every farmer tries to do is to cause his 
land to bring forth good crops. All his labor leads up 
to the harvest time. His whole reckoning is prelimi- 
nary to market results. 

So it is that when the farmer or the home seeker goes 
out to consider whether he shall buy a given tract of 
land, the question that is uppermost in his mind relates 
to the crop producing qualities of the soil. Everyone 
knows that some soils are better than others and that 
there are soils which seemingly are not of any use at all 
in crop production. Then it is also fairly well known 
that land cultivated in the best possible manner may be- 
come better with the years, while land poorly cared for 
may rapidly- lose what little value it had in its wild state. 

The ordinary or average tiller of the soil has very little 
knowledge of the scientific principles which are involved 
in this distinction. It is not surprising, either; for as a 
matter of fact, those who have made a specialty of the 
scientific study of soils, who have spent much time and 
money in experimental work, and who have been able 
to collect the information brought out by hundreds of 
others who have gone before — these specialists are not at 
all agreed as to very many of the essential points in regard 
to the soil. The best of these are quite prepared to mod- 
ify their views at any time. 

With the scientific investigations we have little con- 
cern. It is with results that we have to deal. 



100 Campbell's soil culture manual 

This fact must be kept in mind that, speaking in 
e very-day terms, there is a distinction between fertiUty 
and available fertility. Perhaps 'it is better stated that 
the only kind of fertility that the farmer cares for is that 
which is available, and he has little concern for any fer- 
tility that is supposed to rest within the soil unless he 
possesses the secret of making it useful in increasing his 
crop yield. So it is that in speaking of fertility we wish 
to be understood as referring to available fertility. 

A CONDITION OF THE SOIL. 

Soil fertility is not something that is a part of the soil* 
A very good soil may have little or no fertility available. 
It is a thing apart from the soil, to be placed there or to 
be developed there, through a condition of the soil due 
to a combination of causes. And it is just to bring about 
this condition that the farmer tills his land. The pur- 
pose we have in scientific soil culture is to develop fertility 
by and through creating within the soil a condition favor- 
able to this development. The reader will find in this 
Manual a great deal about the treatment of the soil to 
conserve the moisture and to give it the proper amount 
of air, and to guard against drouth, and to keep the soil's 
physical condition right — all looking to development of 
soil fertility. 

That soil fertility depends a great deal more upon the 
condition of the soil than has been commonly believed 
is now coming to be accepted by many of those whose 
positions entitle them to consideration. Prof. L. H. 
Bailey, of the Cornell University experiment station, a 
man always fair and always in the front rank, has de- 
clared that ''the texture or physical condition of the soil 
is nearly always more important than its mere richness in 
plant food/' In explaining why a finely divided, mellow; 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 101 

friable soil is more productive than a hard and lumpy 
one of the same chemical composition, he says that ''it 
holds and retains more moisture; holds more air; presents 
greater surface to the roots; promotes nitrifiication ; hasn 
tens the decomposition of the mineral elements; has lesa 
variable extremes of temperature; allows a better root- 
hold to the plant." 

And as if to clinch the matter Prof. Bailey in briefly 
referring to fertilizers, declares that ''it is useless to apply 
commercial fertilizers to lands which are not in proper 
physical condition for the very best growth of crops." 

SAVING OUR SOILS. 

In a circular issued by the University of Illinois relating 
to soil investigation. Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins asks these 
pertinent questions: 

"Does not the ultimate position or final destiny of 
America rest upon the question whether the crop produ- 
cing power of our soils shall continue gradually to be reduced 
or whether it shall be increased or at least maintained? We 
need not ask whether the fertility of the soil can be abso- 
lutely and completely exhausted. The fundamental ques- 
tion is, will the system of farming which we practice or 
advise ultimately reduce the productive capacity of the 
soil." 

And in prefacing a somewhat breezy and certainly 
very instructive lecture upon the subject Prof. Hopkins 
says : 

"Surely there is no subject pertaining to agricultural 
science and practice regarding which there is such a diver- 
sity of opinion as the subject of soil improvement for 
increased crop production. Both practical farmers and 
even eminent scientific authorities disagree almost abso- 
lutely on some fundamental principles. Indeed these 



102 

differences of opinion afe so marked and frequent that I 
feel compelled to ask, in language which has recently been 
declared grammatical, 'Where are we at?' " 

Prof. Hopkins evidently sees what is ahead, for he 
declares that ''the agricultural experimental stations are 
becoming more and more responsible for the methods of 
soil management which are being practiced in this coun- 
try," and he suggests that if leguminous crops, for instance, 
do not obtain sufficient atmospheric nitrogen, "is it not 
our business to discover why they do not, and then ad- 
vocate a system of soil treatment or soil management 
which shall enable legumes to obtain from the free and 
absolutely inexhaustible supply of the atmosphere all 
of the nitrogen which they need for maximum yields?" 

We make these quotations here, in connection with 
this subject, largely to make it clear to the average farmer 
that he need not feel at all discouraged if he realizes how 
little he knows about the mystery of the soil in its rela- 
tion to plant growth. There are others in the haze. 

CHANGING THEIR VIEWS. 

Turning to Farmer's Bulletin 257, by the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, containing an address on "Soil Fer- 
tility," by Prof. Milton Whitney, the eminent chief of the 
Bureau of Soils for the Department, we find him declar- 
ing that "fertility and crop production are different terms/* 
and that "fertility is a property inherent in the soil; it 
is what the soil is capable of doing if it is under the best 
possible conditions." Of course Prof. Whitney presented 
the matter from a purely scientific standpoint, and his 
discussion of the soil and its purposes and of the feeding 
i>T p/ants by the soil was backed by years of investigation; 
yet we find him confessing with a frankness that is decid- 
edly encouraging. He says: 



Campbell's soil culture manual 103 

''I believe that through the results of our investiga- 
tions during the last twelve years we are beginning to 
understand clearly the chemistry of the soil. It is exceed- 
ingly interesting, but it is entirely different from our 
former conceptions of it. We are changing pur ideas 
about the chemistry of the soil as we are changing our 
ideas about the nature of diseases and about physical 
forces and physical laws which we thought were perfectly 
understood." 

It need not be regarded as at' all surprising therefore, 
that practical farmers and experimenters should be chang- 
ing their views as to the chemistry and the physics of the 
soil, and in regard to soil management, since those who 
have had such opportunities for knowing the truth admit 
now that their views are changing because of modem 
investigations. 

And this is true that investigation is giving us new 
light on the soil and on the nature of soil fertility, and 
we are finding out a great many new things about the 
relationship which a certain physical condition of the soi 
through cultivation bears to the fertility of the soil and 
to plant growth. 

The soil is not alone the home of the plant and a place 
for its roots to take hold and keep the plant erect; the soil 
is the source of food supply for the plant, and the supply 
is there in proportion to the intelligence of the tiller of 
the soil in his preparation for it. 

Instinctively, almost, the possessor of land that is 
poor in crop producing qualities turns to fertilizers as his 
hope. But he often discovers that he has not been able 
to secure soil fertility by the application of fertilizers. 
He is puzzled, but he does not find any solution to the 
puzzle. -The Department of Agriculture reports experi- 



104 cambpell's soil culture manual 

ments on a tract of land in Iowa ''which with stable manure 
every time produces a smaller crop than without." No 
explanation. 

WHAT THE SOIL IS. 

Now the soil is, in fact, a part of the volcanic matter 
which composes most of the earth. It is broken into 
minute fragments. These fragments are perfect speci- 
mens of rocks and stones or pulverized minerals. But 
they are so fine that the different minerals readily combine 
by chemical action. The plant food is organic in nature. 
It is composed of different mineral substances united by 
chemical action or otherwise. We do not know and we 
never can know just how and why these combinations 
are effected. 

We do know that nitrogen plays a large part in form- 
ing these organic substances which are the food of the 
plants. We know that nitrogen abounds in the air and 
that it may easily be separated from the other component 
parts of the air. We know that this chemical action is 
possible only where there is water, and we know that it is 
promoted by the rays of light from the sun. We feel sure 
also, that in some way the electricity ever present in the 
earth and in the air plays a part in this laboratory in 
developing growth. 

What we can do .by cultivation of the soil is to bring 
about the conditions best suited to whatever action is 
necessary to develop plant food in the soil. The ideal soil 
condition is one where there is just the right amount of 
water and air and other elements. We can do a great 
deal in assisting nature, or at least in not obstructing 
nature, in this laboratory work. And this is scientific 
soil culture. 

The scientific investigator does not go far in making 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 105 

•explanation of the way soils gain fertility until he uses the 
term ''bacteria." It is a useful term, and has a meaning 
fairly well understood, but the term is made to cover a 
good deal that is simply so mysterious that no explanation 
is offered. It is a fact, however, that the development 
of bacteria in the soil bears close relation to its fertility, 
and that these bacteria, whatever they may be in fact, 
play a very important part in making the soil what it 
ought to be for the greatest amount of plant food. 

ELEMENTS OF FERTILITY. 

There are several things in this connection that may 
be regarded as well settled. 

1. Soil fertility is due to the proper combination 
of elements in the soil. 

2. Soil fertility is developed in the soil by the proper 
tilling of the soil, so as to have available the right propor- 
tions of air, water, and other elements. 

3. Soil fertility is possible to a high degree in almost 
every soil, and the addition of fertilizers is only one way 
of gaining this condition. 

Again we repeat that all the processes of agriculture 
look to development and maintenance in the soil, of this 
available fertility which is so essential to plant growth. 
The farmer must bear this ever in mind. He turns over 
the sod or the stubble, not merely to pulverize the surface 
for a seed bed, or to kill the weeds, but he does it with 
a view to creating a physical condition of the soil suitable 
for development of fertility. He may never know why the 
mineral elements combine just as they do to make plant 
food, but it is enough for him to know they do it, then to 
do his part in preparing the way. 

(lood crop results from our fields is our great desire, 



106 Campbell's soil culture manual 

and to this end we have spent nearly a quarter of a century 
in soil culture experiments, study and general observ- 
ation. 

In 1891 we became positive of our ability by observing 
certain physical conditions of the soil to secure good crops 
during drouthy condition, while others failed; a little 
later we were convinced by repeated results that the aver- 
age yield of the great semi-arid section even in good sea- 
sons could easily be doubled, and now it is evident there 
can be even a greater increase in the yields and to the devel- 
opment of increased available fertility by utilizing more 
of nature's abundant resources, such as heat, air, water 
and light through chemical action which we have found 
is great or small, just in proportion to the ability of the 
soil to combine these elements in proper quantities under 
such ideal conditions as shall cause the most complete 
chemical action for the production or development of the 
necessary amount of fertility, and that this all important 
ideal condition of the' soil can be established by scientific: 
soil culture. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 107 



CHAPTER XIII. 



WATER HOLDING CAPACITY OF THE SOIL. 

Among the more i:^portant questions involved in Sci- 
entific Soil Culture, is that of so handling and preparing 
the soil that it may carry the largest possible amount of 
of capillary water^ and at the same time let surrounding 
conditions be such that all free or surplus water may read- 
ily percolate down and away. 

It must be understood that a soil saturated or full 
of water is as bad as no water at all, so far as plant growth 
and the development of plant elements or fertility may 
be concerned. 

It is now quite apparent that plants really do not 
utilize or consume the amount of water once thought 
necessary; in fact, some irrigation experiments have shown 
that beyond a certain nominal quantity of water, more 
water does not mean more or better crops. In these ex- 
periments and all others every result apparently points 
to the fact that there must be a certain quantity of water 
in the soil together with its requisite amount of air properly 
distributed and mingled, and when this very ideal condi- 
tion is attained the only needful is Old' Sol's persuasive 
influence, when the development of plants and fruits will 
be marvelously pleasing. 

It takes no argument to convince the average man 
that there are many times when, if the soil could have had 
just a little more available moisture, there would have 
been one, two or three times as great a yield. To more 



108 Campbell's soil culture manual 

clearly show the vital importance, in this great semi-arid 
belt, of thoroughly fining and firming that portion of the 
soil in which the roots of the plants should grow and feed, 
we have prepared the accompanying illustration. 



Cut No. 10. Water-holding Capacity of Soils. 

. In the glass on the right is one pound of the largest 
buckshot we could find; in the glass on the left is one 
pound of the very smallest bird shot we could obtain; in 
the center is an one-ounce druggist's graduate. With 
this graduate we measured precisely one ounce of water 
and turned into each glass. We then shook each glass 
to be sure that every shot was moistened all over. This 
covered each one with a thin film of water exactly as the 
moisture is retained around each little particle of soil. It 
is not possible in our illustration to get rid of the free water, 
or that portion between the shot, except by tipping the 
glass over and holding the shot back to allow all the water, 



Campbell's soil culture manual 109 

which is not held in film form, to drain out into the grad- 
uate. Measuring carefully the amount from each glass, 
we find to our surprise that the fine shot retains nearly 
thirteen times as much water as the coarse shot. Here 
we have a practical demonstration of how the water- 
holding capacity of the soil is increased by finely pulver- 
izing and making it firm, a condition most favorable for 
the movement of moisture by capillary attraction and the 
most perfect development of roots, both of which sub- 
jects have been taken up in detail in other chapters. 

The shot, before it was put into the glasses, was care- 
fully weighed on fine druggists' scales to be sure that we 
had the same quantity. As you see, both glasses are filled 
to the same height with the coarse and fine shot and both 
glasses are of the same size. 

WATER AND SOIL CONDITIONS. 

The great question which bears so largely upon the 
quantity and quality of all crops is that of water in suffi- 
cient available quantities at all times. Nothing has more 
to do with this than the mechanical or physical condi- 
tion of the soil. The deeper the soil is stirred and yet 
made fine and firm, the greater is our ability to guard 
against the shortao-e of water at some critical time. To 
plow deeply and leave the under portion lumpy and loose 
is a very objectionable condition with which to approach 
a dry period, and as experience has shown, no one knows 
when such a time may occur. Therefore, for safety, the 
lower portion of the furrow must be made fine and com- 
pect, as deep as plowed. 

Many thinking men, from a theoretical standpoint, 
insist that the soil of the prairies must be loosened up 
deeply to let the water down. This is not essential in 
the least, providing the soil is moist a foot or so below the 



110 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

surface and the surface is kept loose. As soon as the rain 
comes in contact with the moist earth below it readily 
percolates down through the fine soil. In fact the soil 
that is moist for three or four feet down will dry off on the 
surface much quicker than soil that is dry underneath 
because of more rapid percolation. The slowest soil to 
take the rain waters is the dry soil with a firm surface. 

Again considering the water-holding capacity of the 
soil, and recognizing a marked difference in the amount 
of the water held by the fine shot shown in our illustration, 
we more clearly grasp the value of adding well rotted 
manures to the soil of the western prairies and the fur- 
ther importance of having it thoroughly mixed into the 
soil. The manure when decomposed very materially adds 
to the number of minute particles and further increases 
the water-holding capacity. The manure question is fully 
considered in a chapter by itself, and should be very care- 
fully studied for its relation to the moisture question is 
broad; therefore, it is one that means much to the semi- 
arid country. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 111 



CHAPTER XIV. 



IMPORTANCE OF AIR IN THE SOIL. 

Not as much importance has been given to a study of 
the part played by air in the soil as the subject warrants. 
Neither is it very well understood that its availability in 
the soil is largely regulated by the mechanical arrange- 
ment of the particles in the upper six or eight inches top 
layer of the soil. 

Because we have seen it constantly demonstrated we 
know the necessity of water in the soil for plant growth, 
but it is not so easy to comprehend the material value to 
the plant of air in the soil. We cannot see its effect in 
anything like as broad a sense as we do the water, yet its 
presence in proper quantities in the soil and about the roots 
of the plants is just as vital to its life, health and growth 
as water. 

Water without air and its component parts is worthless ; 
air without water and its component parts is equally 
valueless to the growth and development of all farm 
crops. 

Consider the subject carefully. How many times have 
we seen a field of wheat, corn or oats, possibly half-grown, 
and noted that in some depression the crop was ranker in 
growth and also a darker green. If a rain of considerable 
magnitude comes, and the depression fills with water 
and remains there for several days, the plants that seemed 
to have the advantage before the rain now begin to lose 
their dark, healthy green color; if the water remains long 



112 Campbell's soil culture manual 

enough over the surface a yellow cast becomes apparent, 
then a brown, and finally it dies. This is because of a 
lack of air at the roots. 

The great store house of nitrogen is the atmosphere. It 
is the place where all is kept that is not in use otherwise. And 
nitrogen is one of the essentials of plant life. The plants 
do not take their nitrogen directly from the air; but.it 
comes to the plant in an indirect manner through organic 
substances in the soil. The nitrogen of the air combines 
with mineral substances in the soil, and then by reason of 
the action of bacteria certain compounds are formed 
which contain nitrogen in a soluble form. Then it be- 
comes plant food. 

NITROGEN AS PLANT FOOD. 

But you cannot have these compounds containing 
nitrogen if the other elements are shut off from contact 
with nature's great storehouse of nitrogen. Hence the 
circulation of air in the soil is an absolute necessity. Soil 
in a perfect vacuum is dead soil, and can no more become 
or 'develop plant food than soil submerged in water or soil 
baked to absolute dryness. 

The great danger in handling soil in relation to the air 
in the same lies in the possibility of having a condition 
that will shut out the air without the farmer knowing it. 
A heavy rain may produce this undesirable condition. 
In cut No. 11 is shown what frequently happens and how 
it may be overcome. It shows soil where there has been 
a heavy rainfall, beating down the surface which has been 
softened by the raindrops, and with the result that the 
upper surface is compacted perfectly. As soon as the 
small amount of water near the surface has disappeared 
by evaporation the upper crust is hard. It is impenetra- 



CAMBPELL'S SOIL CULTUE MANUAL 



113 



ble by air. It may as effectually seal the subsoil from 
the air as does the coat of paraffine over the jar of jelly in 
the pantry. 




A B 

Cut No. 11. Showing Heavy Rain Crust and how it is Broken up 

(a) Soil Mulch Restored by Cultivation, (b). Soil Mulch 

after Heavy Rain, Dissolved and settled down. 



When such conditions. are found they must be destroyed. 
The only thing is to promptly break up this crust and 
put the soil into condition so there will again be a natural 
mingling of the air and water with the particles of the soil. 
This mingling must be in proper quantities of each — that 
is the soil must be of sufficient fineness and firmness below 
the surface, or that portion properly termed the root bed, 
so there may not be too much air, for while air is, most 
valuable in the soil in just the proper quantities, it is se- 
riously detrimental in too large quantities. 

SHUTTING OUT THE AIR. 

In the experiment work we have conducted we have 
noted some remarkable conditions and results. We have 
found, for instance, that the air may be shut out by the 



114 Campbell's soil culture manual 

forming of an almost impervious crust, either on the sur- 
face or beneath a soil mulch. The most marked effect 
of this crust was brought out at the Pomeroy model farm, 
Hill City, Kansas, in 1901, during an extremely long dry 
period in mid-summer when for nearly three months al- 
most the entire country experienced one hundred degrees 
of heat, at times the thermometer running even higher, 
without any rain. Because of wheat harvesting and other 
pressing work the orchard was left from fifteen to eighteen 
days without cultivation. During this time a crust had 
formed under the mulch which we had kept fully two 
and a-half inches in depth. The crust was nearly one inch 
thick and was so dense that the air was almost completely 
shut out. This crust was caused by the mulch becoming so 
heated through the direct rays of the sun that the moisture 
in the firm soil just beneath formed a vapor and passed 
off through the pores of the mulch, to a degree moistening 
the mulch, and allowing enough capillary attraction, 
which together with the heat,' permitted much of the 
moisture to be lost by evaporation. This resulted in 
bringing up much magnesia, alkali salts, etc., in a soluble or 
dissolved condition. When this soluble matter reached 
the point in the firm soil near the surface, where the moist- 
ure was transformed into vapor by the intense heat, it 
became a solid, and these minute particles gradually filled 
up the pores in the top of the firm soil. 

Our attention was first called to this on returning 
after an absence of four days from the farm, by noting the 
fact that the foliage of the tree was losing its dark green 
color. To ascertain the reason for this, after finding that 
there was ample moisture beneath the crust, the exper- 
iment of double disking one-half of the orchard was tried. 
The disk was set to cut as deeply as possible, thus com- 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



115 



pletely destroying the crust. On the morning of the fourth 
day there was a perceptible difference in the color of the 
leaves in this half of the orchard. In seven days the 
trees in the disked portion had resumed their healthy 
dark green color, while the undisked portion had become 
still lighter in color. The balance of the orchard was 
then disked. Although the extreme weather continued 




Cut No. 12. Showing Effect of Shutting Air from Roots 

four weeks longer, the leaves of the whole orchard resumed 
their fine, deep green, and new growth was apparently 
rapid. 

Similar conditions have since been noted in wheat. 



116 Campbell's soil culture manual 

oats and corn, with same results from similar treatment, 
all pointing to the fact that both the growth and yield 
of crops may be very materially diminished by shutting' 
the air from the roots of the plants. 

To illustrate more fully the effect of shutting the air 
from the roots we take the accompanying cut No. 12 from 
Goff's book, ^Trinciples of Plant Culture.'' ' 

To make this test practical, two glasses were filled 
about half full of soft water, then two slips of the same 
kind of a plant as near alike as could be selected were placed 
in the two glasses and then a thin layer of olive oil was put 
upon the water in one glass to prevent the air reaching 
the Avater, the glasses placed in a warm light place; in a 
very few days live healthy roots are seen developing from 
the slip in the glass without the oil, while the oil covered 
glass not only shows no roots but the leaves soon begin to 
wither. While it must be remembered that slips from 
any and all trees or shrubs will not do this, only such as 
willow, nasturtion, or wandering jew, etc. Yet it demon- 
strates clearly and beyond a shade of doubt that the air 
plays a very important part in the growth and develop- 
ment of roots and plants. 

One more thought before closing this very important 
topic. The full and complete knowledge of the relation 
of air and its utility in the production of all farm crops 
means the 'absolute certainty of the greatly increased 
yields of your fields without any material increase in the 
cost of production, because it is found in utilizing what 
is actually going to waste, not by a specially increased 
amount of labor, but through doing the w^ork commonly 
done with an eye to bringing about that certain necessary 
physical condition more through a little different manner 
of tilling the soil when it is in proper condition to work. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 117 



CHAPTER XV. 



PERCOLATION; OR GETTING WATER DOWN 
INTO THE SUB-SOIL. 

During the past three years the question of getting 
the water down into the subsoil has commanded much 
attention and discussion. 

In the more arid sections there seems to be a prevail- 
ing idea that the soil must be broken up or loosened deeply 
by subsoiling or otherwise, or the rain waters will not 
permeate the subsoils of our great prairies to any material 
depth. Theoretically, this is true, and all general observ- 
ations so far as the prairies in their natural state is con- 
cerned, have backed up the theory as a fact or truth. 

A little broader and more careful observation shows 
the theory to be a theory only. 

What we have found to be true in cultivated soils is 
also largely true of the prairies. Several trips over por- 
tions of Eastern Colorado in the autumn of 1906 gave 
strong proof that when the soil is moistened to a depth 
of one foot or more, that a subsequent rain of any mag- 
nitude soon disappears by percolation. This was proven 
in one instance in November; a quite heavy rain disappeared 
from the level prairies very quickly, although it remained 
cool and cloudy, so that little was lost by evaporation. 
Four days later showed the prairie soil to be moist nine 
inches deeper than before the rain; proving the readiness 
of moist soil to take in more water. 

There is no subject that is more vital to the scientific 



118 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



farmers in all our arid countries. To grow good crops 
successfully in any and all seasons, the moisture must 
be stored in the soils and subsoils below. If it is only a 
question of getting a living out of the soil, that is one 
thing, but if it is a question of living well in good 
homes and educating a family of children, then let us 



Cut No. 13. Capillary Attraction Illustrated. 

get out of the soil all we can. If we have a legal right 
to the crop that grows on the land we till then why not 
raise a big crop instead of a small one? 

In cut No. 14 we have attempted to illustrate the 
percolation of water, or the getting of water down into 
the soil. We have divided this cut into three sections, 
numbering them 1, 2 and 3, from left to right, then divided 
these sections into lateral strata A, B, C, and D. 

In section No. 1 , A represents the soil mulch, a stratum 



•CAMPBELL .S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



119 



of light, loose, and dr}^ soil; B represents a stratum of 
thoroughly pulverized and firm soil, meaning the portion 
that is cut by the plow and then sub-packed; C repre- 
sents about eight inches of the subsoil into which water has 
percolated, and D represents the portion of subsoil still 
below that is yet dry. 

In section 2, we find the mulch has been compacted by 
a heavy fall of rain. This mulch in its loose condition 
readily takes in the water, and as soon as the water reaches 
the moist soil found in strata B and C, it immediately 




m 



1 2 3 

Cut No. 14. Showing How Water is Stored in the Soil. 

percolates down below, and is shown by the darker portion 
of soil in the upper part of stratum D. Here the watei* hai 
come in contact with dry soil, which resists percolation. 
Slowly and steadily by gravity the water finds its wa} 



120 Campbell's soil culture manual 

down the columns of soil, which by the way, throughout 
the entire semi-arid belt are almost invariably found in 
a perpendicular position. 

In section 3, we have again reproduced our soil mulch 
by cultivation to stop the evaporation or loss of our water 
from the surface, and we find the moisture below has per- 
colated on down until the water is all distributed, each 
little particle taking on its film of water to a given thick- 
ness which it seems to steadily hold onto while the bal- 
ance of the free water finds its way on down until it is all 
distributed in like manner. 

The next rain will result the same as is shown in section 
2, only we haye six, eight or twelve inches more moist 
soil for it to pass through before reaching the dry soil. 

An illustration will make this more clear. In setting 
out our cabbage or tomato plants in the spring of the 
year when the surface is dry and fine we usually water 
them. In our first application of water to this dry surface 
we notice the water does not seem to percolate, but for a 
little time remains dormant on the surface. After a little 
it finds its way down through the dry particles by force 
of gravity, leaving each particle it passes covered with a 
thin film of water. Then we apply a second application 
of water while the surface is still moist and we notice the 
water immediately disappears. The reason of non-perco- 
lation of the first application is because of the resistance 
of the dry particles to moisture, or repulsion for water. 
The quick movement of the second application of water 
into the ground is the result of the attraction of water for 
water, together with gravity. 

The following will illustrate this natural law: take a 
piece of glass, or a smooth earthen plate and oil it slightly, 
then put drops of water, a half dozen or more, on the glass, 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 121 

take a narrow piece of ordinary newspaper, about one- 
half inch wide; let it extend from the thumb and finger 
about two inches, slowly move it down so the end of 
the paper will come in contact with a single drop of water. 
If you notice closely you will see a remarkable resistance 
of the paper against the water. Very soon the little pores 
begin to absorb the water, and the end of the paper be- 
comes moist. Now slowly raise the paper and notice 
how persistently the paper hangs to the water. When 
it lets go there is a quick upward movement, thus show- 
ing the power of attraction of water for water. Now 
steadily move the fingers down slowly, watching the paper 
and you will notice when it gets close to the water there 
is a sudden movement down, even while there is a little 
space between the moisture on the paper and the water 
on the glass. The power of attraction is made very per- 
ceptible by the quick connection of the two moist parti- 
cles. Now draw the paper across the glass from one drop 
to the other, you will notice the water all hangs together. 
You will have a string or train of water two or three inches 
long trailing on behind your paper. 

This illustrates how easy it is to get moisture into the 
soil by keeping the surface constantly loose and open, so 
that as the rain falls it soon works its way through the 
larger pores until it reaches the moist particles in the firm 
soil, when it immediately percolates on down below. Here 
again nature has done a great deal for the semi-arid belt. 
The peculiar formation and size of the usual particle of 
soil is very favorable for percolation; also for its return 
upward by capillary attraction to feed the plant during 
our long dry seasons. 

Here again we must reiterate. When a heavy rain 
comes, the effect is to more or less dissolve the soil mulch 



122 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

and cause it to settle very firm as shown in the center 
column of our illustration. The restoring of this mulch 
is of vital importance, and the question of the proper 
time in which the condition of the surface soil regarding 
the per cent of moisture it still has, must be carefully 
considered, that cultivation may be done at a time when 
the greatest good may come from it. 

When we realize that under the conditions we are con- 
sidering, following a heavy rain, the soil will lose from 
its surface by evaporation under normal summer climatic 
conditions from one and a-half to two quarts of water per 
square foot each day. 

We certainly should grasp the importance of quick 
action, but' if we cultivate too quickly we may puddle 
the soil and leave a very poor mulch, especially if the soil 
be close and heavy. 

Again if the soil be slightly or quite sandy and we 
delay the cultivation too long, and the surface soil becomes 
quite dry, which it will much quicker than the heavy soil, 
then we may have our soil too much on the order of dust 
which is easily disturbed by high winds. All these things 
must be watched and duly considered. 

Just as soon as the soil is dry enough so it will not 
stick to the harrow or cultivator, it should be quickly 
gone over, 



Campbell's soil culture manual 123 



CHAPTER XVI. 



EVAPORATION. 

In connection with the percolation of the water down 
through the soil and the capillary movement of the water 
upwards, there is the all-important topic of evaporation. 

It is highly .important to the farmer Uving in the semi- 
arid region to know all about evaporation, for it is by 
evaporation rather than by under drainage that the larger 
part of his^ water leaves him. 

When one understands perfectly the effect of evap- 
oration and how it operates to remove water from the 
soil he is in a position to better understand why it is that 
there can be so much conservation of the moisture in the 
soil that the land of the semi-arid belt becomes in fact 
better fitted for good crops than the land of the more 
humid sections. It is a common remark among those 
who but little understand the situation that if there was 
only a little more rainfall in the semi-arid region it would 
be the ideal farming country. They say that all the coun- 
try lacks is enough rainfall to provide all the water neces- 
sary. This is a superficial view. It does not take into 
account the main elements. 

It is true that if we could always have here in the semi- 
arid country just the right amount of rainfall, and have 
it at the right time, we would have no trouble in raising 
good crops. It would be very nice indeed to have this 
condition. We would have the tropics beat badly, and 
our people would have time for bull fights and things like 
that while they were just waiting for the crops to mature. 



124 Campbell's soil culture manual 

But it is also true, and this needs no demonstration, 
that even in the humid sections of the country they suffer 
from drouth. Down on the Atlantic coast there are many 
places where there is an average of one rainy day in every 
three during the growing season — and right there you will 
find the old settlers telling about how they lost a crop by 
drouth. And if they do not suffer from drouth they are 
likely to suffer equally as much by having rain when 
they do not want it. 

RAPIDITY OF EVAPORATION. 

It is stated that the best estimate based o*n experiments 
as to the extent of evaporation from the soil in the humid 
regions shows that fully fifty per cent of the rain water 
which falls is returned to the air directly in vapor. But 
this is not true of the semi-arid region, where a much 
smaller proportion is returned to the air in that way. 
And where there is cultivation with a special view to pre- 
venting this evaporation from the surface the evaporation 
is still less. Prof. Whitney tells of an experiment by the 
Department of Agriculture to test the rapidity of evapo- 
ration under different conditions. Two cylinders six feet 
long were filled with soil and placed erect in water so that 
the soil was kept damp. Then over the exposed end of 
one tube a draft of air was blown to hasten evaporation, 
while over the other a similar blast of air was blown, but 
in this case the air was heated. It was evident that the 
heated air would of itself .take up the water faster than the 
cold air. For a time the evaporation from the tube where 
the heated air was operating seemed to be much faster 
than from the other. But the surface soil was soon dried 
out and this checked ev^aporation. During the time the 
experiment was conducted it was found that the evapo- 
ration from the tube with heated air was very much less 
than from the tube with cold air. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 125 

This illustrates exactly what is done on the soils o. 
the semi-arid resjion to check evaporation. 

NOT LACK OF RAINFALL. 

The real difficulty in the semi-arid belt is not a lack 
of rainfall, but the loss of too much by evaporation, and 
this can be largely controlled by proper cultivation, at 
least sufficiently to secure a good growth of crops every 
year. It has been demonstrated by careful laboratory 
and field work by Professors King, Whitney, Hilgard, and 
others, that seven inches of rainfall is ample to grow a 
good crop of any kind, providing the water is all utilized. 
Measurements and records by the government weather 
bureau have shown that in the more westerly portions 
of the semi-arid belt the average rainfall is more than 
twice as much as is needed, while a little further east it 
is threQ and four times the necessary amount. 

The usual difficulty, if such we may call it, is the fact that 
this rain does not always come just at the time the plants 
most need it. This is the reason crops have failed and 
the average investigator or observer of the existing con- 
ditions in this great belt has drawn the conclusion that 
there is not rain enough. We have lived in this belt of 
country twenty-eight years, and have experienced all the 
pros and cons, the ups and downs that the country is heir 
to. Sixteen years of this time has, been spent entirely 
in the study of the soil, the movement of the moisture in 
the soil, and that all-important question of storing the 
rain waters. Our experience in these sixteen years has 
been quite varied, but each and every year some new and 
important fact has been brought out, all leading to the one 
conclusion, that the rainfall can be stored in the ground, 



126 Campbell's soil culturf manual 

and its evaporation prevented by a prof)er manipulation 
of the soil, thus enabling us to secure, not only fair, but 
remarkably good crops any and ever}^ year. 

The irrigator must consider this question of evapora- 
tion. As a matter of fact he has discovered that his great 
loss of water is from evaporation and he has studied to 
offset this. Placing water on the surface of the ground 
simply invites loss of the water at once. What must be 
done and what is done where irrigation is well understood 
is to place the water deep in the soil, and store it where 
it can be made use of at the right time and in tlie right 
way. 

LOSS AT THE SURFACE. 

The wonderful rapidity with v>^hich moisture rises by 
capillary attraction to the surface and is evaporated is 
not commonly understood. The most favorable condition 
for this rapid, upward movement of moisture is the natural 
condition found after irrigation or heavy rains, when the sur- 
face soil particles are dissolved and settled very closely to- 
gether. Professor King has conducted some ver}^ extensive 
experiments in ascertaining the amount of moisture that 
would evaporate from a square foot of ground in twentv-four 
hours. This work was accomplished by placing a metallic 
tube one foot square in a tank of water so protected that 
there could be no evaporation or loss of water, except 
through this tube. The tube was five feet long, filled 
with soil from top to bottom, and submerged into the 
water four feet, so that the moisture to reach the surface 
to evaporate had to pass up one foot through the soil by 
capillary attraction. The rate of evaporation for ten con- 
secutive days was a quart and a-half of water to the square 
foot. The tube was then lifted one foot higher, making 
it necessary for the moisture to rise two feet by capillary 



Campbell's soil culture manual 127 

attraction, when the loss was a httle over one quart. It 
was then hfted to three and then to four feet, and when 
rising four feet by capillary attraction the loss was a little 
over a pint to the square foot. This shows clearly why 
uur crops may suffer so quickly even after we have had 
considerable rain. 

The experience of the writer in his own work in 1894, 
demonstrated clearly these two facts: First, that moist- 
ure will evaporate very quickly when soil is left in its 
natural condition; second, that a large per cent of moist- 
are can be stored in the ground. In that year there. was 
no rainfall after early May or during the month of June, 
and the average field was practically dry when the first 
rain came on July 7. At that time the'fields were flooded by 
a rain of four and a-half inches which came down quickly. 
In the fields where we were conducting experiments we 
had previous to this time got the moisture down nearly 
three and a-half feet, and the surface was in the best of 
condition to absorb the fresh rain. In eight days the 
ordinary field was again practically dry. In such fields, 
owing to the great resistance of the dry soil, percolation 
was very slow, and the extreme heat which naturally fol- 
lowed quickly evaporated all the water which had fallen. 
But the field we had been carefully cultivating and had 
prepared for just such an emergency, was found to have 
a moist soil over two and a-half feet deeper than before, 
or down to a depth of six feet. 

During the season of 1901, there were many demon- 
strations of the remarkable results following extra work 
done just at the proper time. A farmer near Fairmont 
cultivated once more after a heavy rain which came about 
the middle of July, after the farmers in that locality had 
''laid their corn by." This extra cultivation, which could 



128 cambpell's soil culture manual 

not have cost over thirty cents an acre, added fifteen 
bushels per acre to his yield of corn. James Armstrong, 
of Phelps county, double-disked his ground early in the 
spring, then cultivated his corn once more than his neigh- 
bors, at a total. cost not exceeding sixty cents an acre, 
and got twenty bushels of corn per acre for his extra 
labor. This may seem like an exaggeration, but the com- 
parison was made between this field and an adjoining 
field on his own farm not thus treated, as well as a com- 
parison with the crops of his neighbors. Dozens of sim- 
ilar illustrations could be given of the immense value of 
this principle. If the work is done at the right time re- 
sults are great. 

GREATEST ELEMENT OF WASTE. 

The careful tiller of the soil will, then, bear in mind at 
all times the fact that evaporation is the greatest element 
in the waste of water, that evaporation depends upon the 
condition of the soil surface and the atmosphere, that it 
is always immediately following a rain or an irrigation 
when the surface is compact and moist that evaporation 
is most rapid, that evaporation is comparitively slow 
from a broken and dry surface, and that by checking evap- 
oration the farmer literally forces the water down into 
his natural store house or reservoir for water beneath 
the surface. 

Cultivation of the surface of the soil is not alone to 
kill weeds or loosen the soil to admit the air — but it is for 
the purpose of stopping the waste of water through evap- 
oration. 

Evidence from all over the semi-arid west proves con- 
clusively that if every farmer had fully understood the 
theory and principles of conserving the soil water by proper 
cultivation, there would have been no short crop of corn 



Campbell's soil culture manual 129 

in 1901 in that section of country. The excessive evapo- 
ration of the rain water all over the great plains country 
is the direct and sole cause of a greater loss to the farmers 
of that belt than any other one thing. Educate the farm- 
ers of the semi-arid belt to store, conserve and utilize the 
the rain water and we have paved the way for thousands 
more ideal farm homes and a higher state of prosperity 
than this belt ever experienced or the people anticipated. 
It is by and through knowledge of certain great funda- 
mental principles of agriculture, and application of those 
principles to conditions which exist in this semi-arid sec- 
tion and no place else in our country, that this region is 
to come into its own, and be made, indeed, a veritable 
garden. 

Evaporation of the rain water on the great plains 
country has made many a man hopeless and homeless. 
Prevention of the evaporation of the soil waters by proper 
cultivation means better crops, better homes, better 
people, happier children, and a better and more prosper- 
ous country. 



130 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ADVANTAGES OF SEMI-ARID REGION. 

Don't apologize for being a farmer of the semi-arid 
region. It is not advisable to be boastful beyond that 
which is easily demonstrated; but at least do not feel 
that in conducting the business of agriculture in a region 
where the rainfall is small you are defying nature. It is 
true that you may be defying the traditions of the past 
and doing violence to the old accepted theories on agri- 
culture, but you need not concern yourself about these 
things. 

Don't belittle your own state and your own farm by 
bewailing" the fact that the rain does not fall as often 
there as it did on the farm where you spent your boyhood 
days.- There were seemingly some advantages in having 
rainstorms so often and so great that the waste of great 
quantities of water was not seriously felt. It may be a 
nice thing to have more water than you know what to do 
with. But even this has its drawbacks. Perhaps it is 
better on the whole not to have so much water. Let us 
see. 

The soil of the semi-arid region is generally of a loose 
and fine texture. There is nearly always present in the 
soil sufficient sand to prevent the soil becoming heavy. 
In large portions of the humid regions the soil is underlaid 
with clay in such a way that the storehouse for water 
is limited, or there is danger of the burning out of the 
soil. But this is seldom true in the semi-arid country. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 131 

In fact it is well known that by far the larger proportion 
■of the soils of the semi-arid country is of almost unlimited 
depth and of uniform texture. This is an advantage. 

DIFFERENCE IN THE RAINS. 

In Farmer's Bulletin 266, published by the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, we find also 
some discussion of the difference in the rains of the differ- 
ent sections. The Bulletin says: 

^ 'There is an important difference in character between 
the rains of the east and those of the west. The summer 
rains of the west, and especially of the plains country, 
consist largely of infrequent heavy showers. If the soil 
be open and deep, this rain sinks deeply into the ground. 
As previously mentioned the hot sun and drying winds 
of the semi-arid regions rapidly dry the topsoil and this 
forms a mulch, or covering, which retards evaporation. 
Light showers in a dry time do very little good. They 
wet the surface, and if the water extends to the moist 
soil below, water from below actually flows to the surface 
over the wet soil grains, and the water of the light shower, as 
well as some of that previously in the soil, is lost by evap- 
orating into the air. In humid countries, where much of 
the precipitation consists of frequent light, slow falling 
rains, with much cloudy weather, the surface dries more 
slowly, giving less protection to the lower soil, so that 
much more water is lost from the soil as a whole than 
would be the case if- the same quantity of water came 
in less frequent rains, provided, of course, the heavy rains 
all sink into the soil." 

Bear in mind that it is practically always and ever 
true that the soil of the semi-arid country is in the best 
possible condition for soaking up all of the water rain 
which falls. If it is perfectly dry down to a great depth 



132 Campbell's SOIL culture manual 

it will not take up water as it should, but if only the sur- 
face is dry and beneath is found comparatively moist 
soil, — a condition which prevails where there is the right 
cultivation — then this soil will take up the moisture. 
The only problem then left is to save this moisture. 

A DIFFERENCE IN THE SOILS. 

In Farmers' Bulletin 257, of the Department of Ag- 
riculture, we find Professor Whitney relating an incident 
which nicely illustrates the difference between the semi- 
arid country and the humid regions. He said: 

'^Some years ago I saw some interesting soils in Cal- 
ifornia. In some of the valleys they have soils that will 
produce a crop without any rainfall during the period of 
growth. At a point near Los Angeles, which I visited 
one September, they had a tobacco field which had been 
planted in April or May and had produced a crop which had 
been harvested. A sucker crop had been allowed to grow, 
and in September they were cutting the sucker crop, 
which had made a fair growth and was then in a very 
flourishing condition. The tobacco had had no rain since 
it was planted, but had been cultivated throughout the 
season as we do our crops in the east. With my hands 
I could scrape off the surface and get down to moist soil. 
The wells of that district showed the table water was 
forty feet below the surface. Such an occurrence appears 
a very remarkable fact to us here in the east, where we 
suffer if the rain does not come within two or three weeks. 

''In trying to find out the reason for those peculiar 
conditions in some of the western soils, the fact presented 
itself that in those localities they have a very dry air, a 
very hot climate, and usually very strong winds that 
dry out the surface rapidly. They have about 18 or 20 
inches of rain during the winter. After the rains stop in 



133 



April, if they immediately cultivate their surface soil and 
get it completely dried out, they thereby conserve the 
moisture, because any subsequent loss through evapo- 
ration will have to come from evaporation within the soil, 
and that is very slow, although slow evaporation does take 
place within a soil. If you fill a tumbler with moist soil 
and put it in the window in the sunshine, you will find 
that the heat of the window sill m\[ make the temperature 
of the bottom of the soil higher than the temperatiure of 
the surface; you will then get evaporation from the bottom, 
and the bottom soil will dry out quicker than the top." 

He did not explain, however, the direction which the 
vapor takes which he says is in the soil. Evaporation 
takes place only when there is some open avenue of escape 
for the water in the form of vapor. There is no evapo- 
ration from a hermetically sealed box. 

It was no doubt a matter of great surprise to Prof. 
Whitney, as it has been to many others, to find crops 
grown in the semi-arid country without any rainfall during 
the growing season. They had a right to feel surprised 
when they scraped off the surface with their hands and 
found moist soil just beneath, and this where there had 
not been rainfall for months. And investigation would 
have shown exactly why the store house for water still 
had a supply on hand for the use of the growing plants. 
We have gone to many of our fields in Nebraska, Kansas 
and Colorado during similar periods, with doubting Thom- 
ases, who were equally as surprised as was Prof. Whitney, 
especially in 1894-5, and also -1901-2. 

DEAWBACKS TO THE HUMID REGION. 

The story of the California tobacco crop was told to a 
company of Maryland farmers, and continuing in response 
to questions, Prof. Whitney further explained: 

'^ Conditions here are rather unfavorable for the con- 



134 Campbell's soil culture manual 

trol of moisture, because of our frequent rains. Strange 
as it may seem, while we suffer if we do not get rains, we 
should actually be better off, as they are in the arid re- 
gions of the west, if we did not have any rain during the 
growing season and had a means of providing water when 
we wanted it. There is no question that the arid con- 
ditions of agriculture with water for irrigation permit 
the most perfect system of cultivation. Such a system 
is much more efficient and crops are under much better 
control, if the conditions are handled intelligently, than 
they are here in the east. The trouble with us is that we 
cannot maintain this dry mulch. After a rain we plow 
or cultivate just as soon as we can and we get the surface 
moderately dry; then another rain comes on, and if w^e 
think we can afford it, we cultivate again; then still an- 
other rain comes, and we try again to get the surface 
dry. If you cultivate your soil after a rain just in the 
right time to catch the moisture in the soil, then if you 
have a drouth, cultivate by all means, keep cultivating, 
and you will do much toward saving your crop. The 
Secretary of Agriculture has told of a very disastrous 
drouth while he was professor of agriculture in Iowa, 
when he saved his corn crop and got a normal yield by 
constant cultivation during the dry season, while his 
neighbors had almost a complete failure. As I told you, 
it all depends on the skill, the judgment, and the chance 
which led you to begin operations at the right time. If 
you knew what was coming you could save your crop 
during any ordinary period of drouth." 

In view of the fact that it is no new discovery that 
conditions in the semi-arid regions are radicallj^ different 
from those in the more humid regions, and especially the. 
character of the soil and its adaptability to the best pes- 



Campbell's soil culture manual 135 

sible cultivation, it is somewhat strange that so little has 
been done in making practical investigation of what should 
be done in the west to assure good farming operations. 

IDEAL FARMING COUNTRY. 

The vital truth is that the so-called semi-arid region 
is almost ideally adapted to best agriculture. The soil is 
of the right texture and capable of being handled to the 
best advantage. The soil has all the elements necessary 
for the highest degree of soil fertility. There is compar- 
atively no loss by the washing away process. There is 
no carrying away of the surface bodily so that the subsoil 
must be transformed. There is practically no loss from 
drainage. The soil is easily made loose when that is 
wanted and easily compacted when that is desired. In 
short, no soil is seemingly more ideal for general farm op- 
erations. 

Then the very fact that the atmosphere is dry, as a 
rule, is of great advantage, and yet so many had supposed 
it a detriment. The rain comes in the form of a heavy 
shower, and when it is over there is a dry atmosphere 
which quickly takes up the water from the surface, and 
with prompt action with the cultivator the formation of 
a soil mulch is therefore easily encouraged and of a na- 
ture that is very effective. 

In short it is in the semi-arid region that the farmer 
can best secure that ideal soil condition that enables him 
to control the moisture which is needed for the growth of 
the plant. 

Therefore we say again that no man engaged in farming 
in the semi-arid sections has any excuse for offering apol- 
ogies. He has the best natural conditions for good farm- 
ing. It only requires that he apply science and a reason- 
able amount of well directed labor, and his results are 



136 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

more certain than with the farmer who Uves in a region 
where there must be a good deal of guessing as to the 
soil, the rain, the sunshine, and the wind. 

The semi-arid section having more sunshine and less 
rain makes it possible to not only prepare the soil into 
the most ideal seed and root bed, but it is also possible to 
keep the soil about the feeding roots constantly supplied 
with the necessary amomnt of both air and water. These 
coupled with heat and light cause nitrification as well as 
other chemical action . through which almost unlimited 
plant elements are made available, and it is because of 
these facts and the further fact that such conditions can 
not be so readily and so continuously sustained in sections 
of greater rainfall and more cloudy weather, that the 
semi-arid sections have the advantage of greater average 
yields at less average cost, when work is scientifically done. 



cambpell's soil culture manual 137 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. 

The cultivation of the soil embraces, in a general way, 
.about all of farming that relates to crop growing, but in 
a more restricted sense it relates merel}-^ to the treatment 
of the surface of the soil during the crop growing period. 

It is absolutely necessary to good farming that the 
farmer have a clear understanding of the philosophy of 
soil cultivation. He must be able to consider why the 
surface Js cultivated, how best to cultivate it, why different 
kinds of cultivation are necessary under different condi- 
tions, the implements to use, the time of cultivation and 
the frequency of cultivation. As already known to the 
reader who has conscientiously followed these pages, 
no general rule can be laid down for any portion of the 
work incident to agriculture. The processes nesessary to 
securing good crops cannot be put on a diagram that 
all may read. The most that can be done — and this ought 
always to be sufficient — is to thoroughly explain the gen- 
eral principles and make clear why each operation is per- 
formed and to tell just what effect may be expected from 
following any given line of work; then the farmer must 
apply this knowledge intelligently to the problems which 
come to him from day to day in actual experience in the 
fields. 

So it is with cultivation, there can be no .exact rule 
as to depth, or time, or frequency of cultivation. But 



138 Campbell's soil culture manual 

it can be made clear what a certain l^ind of cultivation will 
do under certain conditions. Then if the farmer knowa 
what he wants he can adapt his work to his needs. 

There has been a great deal of discussion as to the value 
of shallow and deep cultivation. Some persons have 
undertaken to make entirely too much of one or the other 
of these systems. The fault is that they have not always 
kept in mind that much depends on the character of the 
soil, and still more on the soil and atmospheric condi- 
tions which prevail at the time of the cultivation. It 
is not necessary to make an argument anywhere in the 
semi-arid region to convince the farmer that the old- 
style of cultivation of growing crops with the long pointed 
shovels is not proper especially in the light soils of the 
west. If he has had experience he knows that this method 
of cultivating his corn or potatoes is as likely to do harm 
as to do good. So he has turned to shallow cultivation 
as the natural alternative. But it is possible he has gone 
too far in that direction, an error easily made and quite 
common. 

Shallow cultivation is not very well understood. There 
are times when it is just the right thing. But take it, for 
instance, in the drier portions of the west, where the at- 
mosphere is free from moisture and the altitude is high 
so that vaporizing of the water comes at a low tempera- 
ture, it is easy to cultivate too shallow. A little deeper 
will get better results, because it is necessary to have a 
deeper soil mulch to protect the moisture beneath. 

SHALLOW vs. DEEP. 

In the chapter touching on the growth of potatoes^ 
th^re will be found two illustrations which will bear study^ 
ir connection with this subject of shallow or deep culti- 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 139 

vation. In cut No. 20 is shown a hill of potatoes which 
was grown by shallow cultivation. In this case, it is 
proper to add, the ground was first plowed eight inches 
deep, having been previously disked, the plow followed 
with a sub-surface packer, and the whole portion made 
thoroughly fine and firm. In securing this illustration, 
the lateral roots of many different hills were washed out. 
The main roots running from the stock were almost in- 
variably found to have traveled in quite a uniform dis- 
tance from the surface of moisture; the little branches 
running out from the main roots taking various directions, 
some lateral and some down. 

The illustration quite perfectly shows all these im- 
portant facts. Notice the two and a-half inch mulch, and 
the very fine, uniform condition of the balance of the 
furrow or plowed portion, where may be seen numerous 
roots. This represents a hill of potatoes taken from a 
field growm on our farm in Brown county, South Dakota, 
in 1894, w^hen thirty-two acres of high, level prairie pro- 
duced an average of one hundred and forty-two. bushels 
to the acre, and this in a season when almost all the crops 
throughout the entire semi-arid belt were ruined by the 
extreme drouth. 

In Cut No. 21, we give another illustration of potatoes 
grown under other conditions. This ground was treated 
practically the same as that shown in cut No. 20, but deep 
cultivation was applied, and less frequent. The field 
was cultivated three times, cutting fully ,four inches deep, 
which resulted in destroying nearly all the lateral roots, 
while the other field was cultivated eight times, cutting 
about two inches. The difference in the result of the 
two crops was attributed directly to the treatment of the 
ground after planting. 



140 Campbell's soil culture manual 

time of cultivation. 

These illustrations show very plainly the difference 
in results between shallow and deep cultivation, but they 
also show another thing, and that is that the time of cul- 
tivation is a very important thing. Deep cultivation will 
certainly, under some conditions, facilitate the evapora- 
tion and waste of the water, and sometimes very shallow 
cultivation will have the same effect. The depth of the 
cultivation may well be varied to meet conditions as 
you find them. 

If you would secure the greatest possible benefit from 
the labor given over to cultivation, you should first pro- 
vide yourself with some fine-toothed cultivator, so that 
the soil may be all thoroughly fined, leaving the surface 
of the firm soil beneath as near level as possible. Then, 
great care should be taken to catch your ground in proper 
condition. It is true there is but little time after a rain 
that the ground is in the best possible condition. This 
is the time when the free water has all percolated below, 
and the soil to the depth which you wish to run your cul- 
tivator, is simply moist — neither very wet nor very dry. 
In this condition the little particles seem to readily sepa- 
rate, one from the other, then your stirred soil is com- 
posed of an innumerable number of little, minute lumps, 
forming a mulch , that gives you the highest degree of 
protection. A mulch made when soil is in this condition 
will never blow. 

If the soil be too dry it breaks into large lumps, which 
not unfrequently lie in such manner as to conduct the 
air through the large spaces between them down to the 
solid and firm soil beneath, causing much loss by evapo- 
ration. It is needless to mention the difficulty arising 
from cultivating soil that is too wet. When worked it 



Campbell's soil culture manual 141 

becomes what is known as ''puddled/' and then when 
dried it becomes hard as brick, and a heavy rain is required 
tQ even dissolve the lumps so that they may be pulver- 
ized afterwards. 

SAVING THE MOISTURE. 

There are two vital points in regard to the success- 
ful growing of crops in the western country. The first 
is the importance of getting all the water possible into 
the ground, and second, using every possible means to 
conserve or retain it there. 

The importance, or value, of a little additional water 
is shown by the effect of snow drifts that may form on 
the field from any cause. The increased amount of moist- 
ure that seems to find its way into the ground when the 
snow melts invariably makes itself apparent in the grow- 
ing crop as soon as a dry period begins to affect the crop 
in the least. At these points the crop always holds out 
longer, sometimes carrying the crop over to another good 
rain, which results in maturing an unusually large yield 
on these places, while the balance of the field will 
not yield to exceed one-half to one-fourth the 
amount. Thus a gain in yield of wheat of probably ten 
bushels to the acre is the result of perhaps not over one- 
half inch of additional water that had percolated into the 
ground. The enormous evaporation from our fields under 
favorable conditions is not in the least comprehended by 
the average farmer because he has no means of readily 
testing and proving. 

EVAPORATION DANGER. 

The danger to the farmer from evaporation cannot be 
overestimated. Therein lies the whole secret of good 
farming in the semi-arid region. If there was no water 
lost or wasted the deserts would blossom. Under the 



142 cai^^pbell's soil culture manual 

heading of '' Evaporation," we have given the resiilts of 
some experiments by Professor F. H. King of Wisconsin 
showing the rapidity with which moisture -.v ill rise through 
the soil by what is known as capillary attraction, reach 
the surface and pass off in vapor into the atmosphere in 
a single day. Not until the farmer begins to grasp the 
vital importance of keeping even a little additional water 
in his soil can he be expected to use all diligence due in 
preventing this evaporation. This observation of the 
farmers throughout the semi-arid west, during the grow 
ing season of 1901, especially Kansas and Nebraska, 
ought to be amply convincing with reference to the value 
of stored water in the soil. There were frequent remarks 
during its prolonged and severe drouth of the mid-summer 
with reference to how the corn continued day after day 
and week after week, contending against this extreme 
heat without rain, without showing any apparent effect 
of drouth; but this was simply the direct result of the 
unusually heavy rains in early spring that percolated 
down into the soil, in many instances eighteen inches to 
two feet deeper than usual, and there acting as a reserve, 
continued to return by capillary attraction and feed the 
corn plants and other grain until it was exhausted. In 
this same chapter on evaporation we make mention of 
several instances where the early disking of the ground 
resulted in retaining a sufficient amount of additional 
water to carry a crop of corn through, increasing its yield 
in some instances as high as twenty bushels, which was 
not secured in adjoining fields, not disked, simply because 
the moisture was allowed to evaporate by leaving the sur- 
face hard and compact, as is always the condition after a 
heavy rain or snow. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 143 

soil conditions. 

To be successful the farmer must grasp the full im- 
portance of doing all his work just at a time when the 
condition of the soil is best adapted. The idea that by 
plowing today we may get ten bushels of wheat to the 
acre, when if we plowed the ground four days later we would 
get fifteen bushels or vice versa seems rather ridiculous. 
While this statement and the figures used, may in most 
€ases be a little strong, yet it is a fact that the average 
yield of a field is frequently increased or decreased quite 
a per cent by a few days variation in the time the work 
is done. 

This is especially true with reference to cultivation. 
We have in mind a case near Fremont, Nebraska, where 
the phenomenal difference of fifteen to eighteen bushels 
per acre was made by cultivating a part of the field before 
a heavy rain of nearly five inches, and the balance of it 
after this rain. The reason of this remarkable difference 
was simply what we have been dwelling upon, the result 
of retaining a large per cent of moisture in the soil mulch 
by the cultivation after the rain, that was lost from the 
balance of the field by rapid evaporation. This occurred 
in July, and was the last cultivation preparatory to what 
is called laying the corn by. The rain was a very heavy 
one. The part of the field that was cultivated previous 
to the rain was left with the thick compacted crust made 
by the heavy fall of water, which resulted in dissolving 
the loosened soil and settling it very close, thus leaving 
the surface in the best possible condition for a rapid move- 
ment of moisture to the surface and evaporation. Under 
another head we have explained this more clearly. The 
portion not cultivated previous to the rain was gone over 



144 



as soon after the drain as conditions would permit, thus 
producing a perfect protection to the moisture below^ 
and bringing about the remarkable result referred to. 

While these cases cited seem like extreme instances, 
under similar circumstances you can look for similar re- 
sults. When the reader begins to understand the direct 
effect of these conditions it will then be quite clear why 
a light crop was secured when a good crop might have 
been harvested. 

TIME OF CULTIVATION. 

The exact time for the cultivation of a field cannot 
be fixed by any arbitrary rules. Certain things can be 
stated, as' for instance- 
Too moist soil will settle, so that you have accom- 
plished nothing by cultivation. 

Too dry soil will break up into clods and the surface 
mulch will be imperfect. 

Too wet soil will when cultivated, form a connection 
between the surface and the subsoil, so that moisture 
will be steadily carried to the surface. 

Too dry soil will be left by cultivation so that the air 
goes down into it and carries away moisture. 

But you should always cultivate immeditaely or as 
soon after a rain as the soil conditions become suitable. 
One of these conditions is that the soil does not adhere 
to the cultivator or tool used. Usually soil sufficiently 
dried so it will not stick will be such as will form the right 
kind of a mulch. 

We do not mean by this that the soil should be abso- 
lutely dry on the surface. It is an error to wait for that 
time, for the moment the surface is apparently dry the 
crust begins to form. It is desirable to catch the ground 
just before this time when all the soil is simply moist. 



CAMPBxiLL's SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 145 

arcd then there is a free and ready separation of all parti- 
cles. In this condition the cultivator runs the easiest, 
the mulch made the finest and lies up loose and light. 

The judgment of the farmer must be used with great 
care at this time. He must bear in mind just what he 
wants and try his best to get just such condition of his 
soil. 

TIME FOR QUICK WORK. 

There is no time in the year's round of duties when 
quick work even at the expense of many long days of 
labor is so much needed as at the height of the growing 
season, when advantage must he taken of every rainfall 
that favors us. 

It must be borne in mind that every moment's delay 
after the soil reaches the proper condition causes you to 
lose water very fast. It is at the rate of a quart or over 
per square foot per day, providing it is clear sunny weather, 
and even more in case of heavy south winds.. The more 
intense the heat the more frequent it is necessary to cul- 
tivate. A very good rule is to watch the condition of the 
firm soil just beneath the loose mulch or cultivated por- 
tion, and whenever the surface of this firm soil begins to 
show dryness it is high time to commence cultivating 
again. 

We cannot impress this point more fully upon your 
mind than by referring you to that chapter which tells 
of the crusting of the orchard on the Pomeroy Model 
farm during the extreme dry period of 1901, and its effect 
upon the growth of the trees. 

We had a simlar experience, but more clearly illus- 
trated, in the cultivation of corn in Cheyenne county, 
northwest Kansas, in 1898. This demonstrates very 
clearly the great importance of being exceedingly cautious, 



146 Campbell's soil culture manual 

not to let any crust form under the mulch. We are of the 
opinion that many corn crops have been seriously injured 
by that condition, when with no more available moisture 
the crop would have come out all right had it not been 
for this crust. 

KEEPING MULCH IN CONDITION. 

There are many important reasons why great care 
should be taken to keep the mulch in perfect condition 
and prevent the loss as far as possible of any moisture by 
evaporation from the surface of the soil. The following 
paragraph taken from Professor King's book on ''The 
Soil/' conveys some important information along this 
line. We quote this because it bears the figures of his 
own practical observation at various depths in the soil, 
showing the effect not only of the surface soil getting too 
dry, but of light showers. He says: 

''When the surface soil has its water contents reduced 
so the upper six to twelve inches are beginning to get 
dry the rate of capillary rise of water through it is decreased 
and it begins to assume the properties of a mulch. But 
when this condition has been reached if a rain increased 
the thickness of the water film on the soil grains without 
causing percolation, the capillary flow may be so certain 
that the surface foot draws upon the deeper soil moisture 
at a more rapid rate than before, causing a translocation 
of the lower soil moisture, the deeper soil becoming meas- 
urably drier soon after such a rain than it was before, 
while the surface foot is found to contain more water 
than has fallen upon it." 

He cites experiments as proof of this important prin- 
ciple. Some of his experiments were very interesting and 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 147 

instructive, showing that by wetting the surface capillary 
attraction was so increased as to show that moisture had 
moved up from the fourth and fifth foot below. 

This emphasi::es the fact that the tiller of the soil 
should understand these conditions that he may know 
just what to do to get the best possible yields. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

In closing this chapter we venture to repeat that we 
may emphasize some things taught. 

Winter wheat will not winter kill in firmed, moist 
soil, while in loose soil it frequently thins out or kills 
out entirely. 

A fine, firm root bed, with a loose surface or mulch, 
is a condition that will withstand the extreme dry periods 
longest without any injury to the plant. 

Study well the question of thoroughly pulverizing and 
packing the lower portion of the plowing; a full under- 
standmg v)f its importance meatus many dollars, because 
it means a larger crop result. 

Subsurface packing increases the moisture in the lower 
portion of the plowed ground and induces decomposition 
of the weeds, stubble, or manures that have been turned 
under, thereby adding humus, the all important ingredient 
for rapid plant growth, as well as enabling the plant to 
withstand drouth. 

If you would get your soil to a condition of fineness 
and firmness, do all your work to that end when the soil 
is just slightly moist, for it then plows better, packs better, 
and cultivates better. Do not go to work on plowed 
ground that is dried to the bottom, whether plowed in 
good condition -or not, and expect in any way to get the 
lower portion of the furrow in good condition. You may 
improve it. The closer you keep to the plow the better 
you can pack the under portion. 



148 cambpell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XIX. 



BAYNYARD MANURES. 

The use of barnyard manures in enriching the soil has 
become so universal that it seems almost strange that 
in large areas of the country but little use is made of it. 
In the eastern part of the United States, as well as in 
other countries, there is no need for argument to con- 
vince the farmers of the great value of barnyard ma- 
nures. They have demonstrated it many times. They 
do not waste any. 

In the western states, more especially in the semi- 
arid regions, farmers have come to have an entirely differ- 
ent view of the value of the barnyard manures. In the 
entire belt it is probable that at the present time a large 
proportion of the barnyard manures are burned or thrown 
away. This is all wrong. In no section of the country 
is the soil of such a character as to respond more quickly 
and effectively to the use of barnyard manures and in 
no place will the effect of such manures last longer, or 
be of such permanent improvement. 

There is the best possible reason for this. The soil 
is light and naturally rich in the primary elements neces- 
sary to fertility. But it is also well adapted to holding 
moisture, and there is in fact, no great drainage of the 
water. There is much loss of the value of manures in 
regions where the rainfall is heavy, for the under drainage 
carries away the best part of it. In the semi-arid belt 



Campbell's soil culture manual 149 

there is none of this loss of fertility by drainage. The 
light rainfall is therefore a distinct advantage in the 
treatment of manures. 

But there is difficulty in making the best possible 
application of manure. The atmosphere is dry and the 
soil may remain dry for a long period, so that the ma- 
nure lies dormant on top of the soil. This is not condu- 
cive to nitrification or decomposition, and many farmers 
have failed to get good results. Then it is a fact that 
in the barnyard manure as it is gathered in this dry 
country there is much loose and coarse straw in an al- 
most perfect state of preservation, not very well fitted 
for helping the soil. When the manure is plowed under, 
as it must be to get the best results, the soil is so loose 
and light that there is not sufficient weight to press the 
whole down, and make such a compact mass as best 
serves to make a good bed. The soil, with the fresh 
fertilizer mixed in, has retained an open and porous con- 
dition down to a considerable depth, which proves a 
detriment to the soil, with the natural result that the 
crop burns out and weeds gain the ascendency. The 
throwing of coarse manure on the top of the ground, 
leaving it in bunches, then plowing it under without 
special care in packing is of little value. In fact, this 
system of applying manure brings about a condition 
frequently much worse than if none had been applied. 
Especially is this true in the semi-arid region, where 
much greater care must be taken to get the manure 
perfectly mixed with the soil. 

MANNER OF APPLYING 

The best results have always been had in the semi- 
arid country by having the manure applied with a spread- 
er, then using a sharp disk to double-disk the surface, 



150 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

thus mixing the maimrB to a considerable extent with the 
top three inches of soil. We followed this by plowing 
six or seven inches deep, using a rod on the beam to 
turn everything under. This is then followed by the 
sub-surface packer which treatment results in firmly 
packing the soil and manures firmly at the bottom of 
the furrow. The reader should refer back to cuts No. 
1, 2, 3, and 4, especially to note what we mean in *this 
regard. The plowing under of manure that has not 
been well distributed is likely to leave the ground as in 
cut No. 1, which is evidently a condition that will not 
only waste the natural strength of the soil, but be waste- 
ful to the manure that has been turned under. By use of 
the sub-surface packer the mixing is not only made per- 
fect, but the manure is brought into actual contact wth 
the soil, when the proper processes bring about the de- 
velopment of the humus. Only slight moisture is neces- 
sary to develop the decomposition if the mixing is well 
done; much moisture will hardly suffice if the mixing 
and packing is not done. 

The history of our experience in this matter well illus- 
trates the common experience of others. In 1882 upon 
a South Dakota farm we gave a liberal coating of barn- 
yard manure, plowed it under, and worked it down as 
best we could after the manner usually practiced in old 
Vermont. The rainfall during that season was quite 
liberal and timely. The piece, about five acres, was plant- 
ed 'to corn and well cultivated, with such good results, 
that we decided to treat the manure question with the 
same care and economy as we were wont to do in the 
East. The same plan was followed out in 188S, with a 
total loss of all the crops which were planted on that 
ground. A small attempt was made again in 1884, with 



Campbell's soil culture manual 151 

the same poor results. For several years after this we 
followed the usual plan of the western farmer, of hauling 
it out and using any possible method to get rid of it. 
remarkable results 

But the remarkable results each and every year from 
the field where the manure was applied in 1882, was too 
convincing of its value. For ten successive years this 
entire quarter section was put into wheat. Every year 
in the early stages of the growth of the wheat, the shape 
of this five-acre field, which was in one corner of the 
one hundred and sixty acres, was perceptible both in 
the color of the wheat and the development of the stools, 
and almost invariably at harvest time, the grain on this 
little piece would be from four to eight and ten inches 
higher than the balance of the field, and yielded invari- 
ably from fifty to one hundred and fifty per cent more. 

With much study along these lines, and several ex- 
periments, to find out why such remarkable results were 
obtained from this field and why we could not succeed 
in later attempts, we were finally able to solve the prob- 
lem fully. It is simply a question of mixing the manures 
into the soil as much as possible, and then firming the 
under portion of the furrow slice*, thoroi^ghly packing 
manure and soil, followed with careful cultivation, when 
the sam eresults may practically be attained any year 
that were secured in the seasons referred to, when we had 
the unusual amount of rain scattered along at proper 
periods at just the right time to produce decomposition. 

The peculiarity of the formation of our soil is such 
that manures, when properly applied, very materially 
aid us in carrying our crops through the dry periods and 
preventing the serious effects of the drouth, for the 
simple reason that the humus, which is decomposed veg- 



152 Campbell's soil culture manual 

etable matter, very materially increases the water-hold- 
ing capacity of our soil. The more humus we have in 
the soil, the greater is the number of particles, conse- 
quently the greater amount of surface to hold water. 
It also aids in the movement of moisture through the 
soil, and in the encouragement and development of root 
growth. 

The existence of the humus in the soil we know to 
be absolutely necessary to successful growing of crops. 
It is where this humus abounds that we find the great- 
est development of nitrates in the soil, not alone because 
nitrates are carried into the soil with the fertilizer as a 
part of it, but because of the chemical action which takes 
place in the soil. A good deal is said about the carrying 
of nitrates into the soil, and in certain crops gathering 
the nitrogen from the air and storing it in the soil, but 
the fact is that the greater portion of the nitrates in the 
soil are prepared there by the chemical action which is 
always stimulated by barnyard manures. 

PERMANENT EFFECTS. 

There is one great advantage in the practical use of 
barnyard manures in the semi-arid belt. The effect is 
more lasting when the manure is properly applied 
than in the soils of the more humid regions. In these 
latter regions the greater rainfall has a tendency to wash 
out the humus below. This trouble of washing out is 
especially perceptible in the gravelly soils of New York 
and the New England states. There is another advan- 
tage of the semi-arid belt which will be appreciated when 
these facts are better understood by the masses, for our 
observations so far clearly show that manures are even 
more valuable here than in the east, not that our soil is 
not fertile, but the more humus we have in the soil the 



153 



more watfer will each square inch of soil hold, and conse- 
quently our soil is safer and less liable to suffer from 
drouth. There is but little expense attached to an ex- 
periment to ascertain the correctness of our assertions 
on this subject, and were you to make them, you would 
find more and surer profit from them than from govern- 
ment bonds. The sub-surface packer is a very valuable 
tool in securing immediate results from manure. Exam- 
ination of the illustrations in this book will make this 
very clear, and the matter is not exaggerated in the 
least. 

MANURE AND WATER. 

Professor Goff in his book oh principles of plant cul- 
ture, says: ''Much of the benefit of manuring undoubt- 
edly comes from the increased capacity it gives the soils 
for holding and transmitting water.'' 

Professor King says in his book on soils, that in three 
years' experiments with barnyard manures he found 
''That for manure fallowed ground the surface foot con- 
tained eighteen and one-fourth times, or four thousand 
and eighty-seven gallons more water per acre than ad- 
jacent and similar but unmanured land did; while the 
second foot contained nine and one-fourth tons and the 
third six and one-third tons more water, making a tctal 
difference in favor of the manured ground of thirty-fcui 
and one-third tons or eighty-five thousand gallons." 

We would advise, where it is possible, to plow manure 
uder in summer tilling fields, and in doing this it will he 
found that far less seed is needed for best results. 

ECONOMY IN SEED. 

The use of manure has such an important bearing 
on the proper preparation of the seed bed that its right 
use may go a long way toward saving in the use of seed 



154 Campbell's soil culture manual 

grain. The stalk sent up from an imperfect seed bed 
is of slow growth and scant of leaves. The stalk which 
runs upward from a perfect seed bed spreads out and 
probably branches, and the leaves are abundant and 
strong. If there is an abundance of humus in the 
soil there is stooling out of the stalk so that instead of 
one upright stem there are two or three or mayhap a 
dozen stems sent up to bear flowers and grain. It there- 
fore follows that where manure has been used in a man- 




A Modern Manure Spreader. 

ner to develop in the soil the greatest amount of humus, 
so that plant food is more than sufficient for the needs 
of the plant, a very much smaller quantity of seed should 
be sown per acre than on soil less favorable to growth. 
If there is too much seed per acre the grain will stool 
too much and make so heavy a growth that it will stand 
up. Heavy stooling results in the weak straw carrying 
down the grain, and in this condition the grain will not 
fiill and it often happens it cannot be harvested. 

The right use of manure therefore, partially compen- 



Campbell's soil culture manual ^ 155 

sates itself in the economy in use of seed. In no one 
thing are mistakes more common than this of the right 
amount of grain for the fields in the semi-arid belt. 

THE MANURE SPREADER. 

While the manure spreader is a very valuable farm 
implement from a time saving point, yet its great value 
lies in the fact that the manure is thoroughly torn into 
small pieces and very evenly distributed over the surface 
of the field. It will pay for itself in a short time provid- 
ing the farmer will use great care in mixing the manure 
with the soil, plowing it under at a fair depth and then 
firming the soil with a sub-surface packer. It only takes 
a little manure per acre and a little intelligent mixing 
and preparing of the soil to easily double the present aver- 
age yield. 

Barnyard manure must be handled with good tools 
and be treated as something distinctly valuable. To 
throw it upon the land and trust to luck, is worse than 
time wasted. 



156 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XX. 



CORN GROWING. 

Corn is a crop which requires a season a little longer 
than small grain and the crop does not thrive best where 
the nights are cool, so that the northern limit of the corn 
belt is easily reached. But with care corn may be grown 
far north in a satisfactory manner and is a good crop in 
a large part of the semi-arid region. The care referred 
to relates to the preparation of the seed bed, the previous 
fitting of the soil, the manner of planting, the time and 
manner of cultivation. No crop is more responsive to 
.good treatment than corn. No crop suffers more from 
carelessness or ignorance on the part of the farmer. 

The first thing a farmer must consider is the prepa- 
ration of the soil. Corn is a crop which demands culti- 
vation during the growing season, put it also demands 
a preparation quite equal to that of wheat or other grains. 
Among the hills of New York and New England the 
farmers give a great deal of care to the preparation of 
the soil for the corn crop, for the farmers have learned 
by experience that it is poor economy to put good seed 
corn into badly prepared ground. It is on the corn fields 
that they most generally use barnyard manure, and it is not 
infrequent that they treat the corn ground to from $2 
to $4 worth of fertilizing per acre, there being many 
places where this seems to be necessary every year if 
good crops are to be had. 

Professor Bailey, of Cornell university, has well said 



Campbell's soil culture manual 157 

that no after cultivation can make amends for a poor 
job of preparation of the soil. This applies with much 
more force to the semi-arid belt than it does to the east- 
ern sections of the country. 

~ In Illinois and other states of the Mississippi valley 
the soil is more fertile and rain usually ample so that 
no fertilizers are required and when the rains are ample 
and timely two or three ordinary cultivations during the 
growing period produce a good crop of corn, But even 
there they are beginning to leased the value of conserving 
the water by more frequent and timely cultivation, be- 
cause of dry periods that are likely to come at any time. 
They are also learning that the breaking up of the crust 
which has formed on the surface after a rain is valuable 
because it admits the air to the soil and makes the corn 
grow better. But with us in the semi-arid belt, more at- 
tention must be given to the preparation of the ground. 
We cannot depend upon heavy rains to aid us in dissolv- 
ing and settling our soil, consequently we must give 
close attention to every part of the work. 

The first thing in order in the spring in the prepara- 
tion of the soil for corn, is the early disking which should 
be a double disking in order to thoroughly pulverize the 
surface, bearing in mind that every act should be with 
a view to storing and providing the greatest possible 
amount of water in the soil. Early disking covers the 
two important points referred to, that 6i preventing evap- 
oration and opening up the surface to receive the later 
rains. This done we simply wait for the proper time 
for further preparation and planting, always being in 
readiness, however, to loosen up the surface at any time^ 
should we get a rain of any magnitude. 



158 Campbell's SOIL culture manual 

USE OF THE LISTER. 

There is some diversity of opinion as to what is the 
best way to plant corn. We prefer the use of the lister 
over that of the check rower, especially in the higher 
altitude or in the northern states where the nights are 
cooler, which results in heavier suckering or stooling. 
The additional shoots are very detrimental to the corn 
crops, especially should we have a dry season. In the 
humid sections, and on the rolling land, we still prefer 
the check rower. 

There is one distinct advantage in the lister which 
is worth a great deal to the farmer in some cases. When 
there are symptoms of suckering, or the conditions are 
such as to cause this, we may, by filling the furrow and 
covering up the young shoots destroy them completely 
and with ease. The higher the altitude and the drier 
the atmosphere, the deeper is it necessary to cultivate 
in order to produce a deeper mulch to prevent evapora- 
tion. In using the lister on ground where the moisture 
has been carefully preserved by disking and harrowing 
in the early spring it is quite important to follow the 
lister with some tool to thoroughly pulverize the moist 
soil that is thrown up as such soil soon assumes a dry 
and a very hard condition which is afterwards difficult 
to manage. There ought always to be enough time so 
that the surface of the soil can be cared for after planting 
and before it is necessary to begin the corn cultivation. 
The best tool for treating the soil surface at this period 
is the weeder. Tlie long and flexible teeth lap down on 
the side of the furrow or ridge as thrown up between the 
rows and quite completely pulverize the large clods that 
are thrown up by the lister, leaving a perfect circle with 
a nice fine mulch over the entire surface. This puts 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 159 

your ground in magnificent shape, especially in the sand 
soils of the semi-arid belt, so that you can continue the 
use of the weeder by going lengthwise of the ridges and 
completely destroy the weeds before they assume any 
size^ keeping your mulch in perfect condition to prevent 
evaporation, going over the ground after each rain, as 
in the cultivation of other crops, watching the condition 
very closely in order that you may catch the ground just 
when slightly moist before the crust has begun to form^ 
This does away with the weed cutting idea. 

THE WEED PROBLEM. 

The importance of getting ahead of the weeds and 
keeping them down cannot be overstated. It is almost 
impossible to select words from the English language 
with sufficient force to impress upon the average farmer 
the serious detriment to crops of even the small weeds. 
To get a good corn crop the weeds must be kept out. 
And it is far easier to keep the weeds from growing than 
it is to kill them after they have become strong. An 
illustration of what can be done in che semi-arid belt 
will be given. 

On the Kilpatrick ranch, in Chase county, Nebraska, 
in 1903, two hundred and seventy acres of listed corn 
were handled in this manner. The weeder used was the 
combination weeder and harrow made in sections the 
same as the common steel harrow. This is 'an implement 
that will be soon on the market generally, and its use 
will be common. We used enough sections to cover six 
rows of the corn, and the entire field was gone over four 
times before any other cultivator was used, and the corn 
was then about eight to ten inches high. The suckers 
or stools were from two to five inches long. A 
two-row riding cultivator with two wide shovels on each 



160 Campbell's soil culture manual 

side was then used throwing the soil from the ridge over 
the suckers to cover them up and practically leveling the 
ridges down. A few days later it was with considerable 
difficulty that a sucker could be found, in fact, with care 
and catching the corn at proper height" the suckrs can 
all be destroyed. The cultivator was followed with the 
weeder, which practically leveled the surface. The 
corn was now ten to fifteen inches high and scarcely a 
broken stalk could be found, owing to the fact of the 
fiexibleness of the teeth and that the drag or weeder bars 
were seven inches high. The field was gone over five 
times with a weeder, that took in six rows; and this cost 
less than to have gone over once with a one-row cultiva- 
tor and twice with a two-row cultivator. This made the 
total cost of eight cultivations equivalent to less than 
two and a-half times over by the old plaja. The corn 
made over forty bushels to the acre. Many other similar 
illustrations of what can be done might be cited in the 
country just east of the Colorado line. 

In growing listed corn we do not believe in very deep 
listing, but in thorough cultivation from early spring 
until the crop is put in, then consider fully that ample 
moisture and air must be in the soil and that weeds grow- 
ing in a corn field live on your best corn. 

We will never get the high limit in yield by listing 
corn into the unplowed land. The plowing of the land 
to a good depth in the autumn, following with the sub- 
packer well weighted, then early spring culture and list- 
ing shallower, would bring much better results. In short, 
a three-row lister is now being perfected for fields thus 
fitted and a three row cultivator will also be ready 

CHECK ROW PLANTING. 

Early plowing is absolutely necessary in making use 



. CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 161 

of the check row planter. The earlier the ground is 
plowed the better, provided it is not plowed when too 
wet. But there must also be the disking process in 
preparation for the plowing, for the problem of evapora- 
tion also comes in very early in the year, and the disking 
puts the surface in condition to prevent this and to en- 
courage the percolation of the later rains into the soil. 
The use of the disk is advisable since you can get onto 
the ground with the disk and do good work when it would 
be too wet to plow at a proper depth. And you can 
cover the field quicker with a broad gauged disk than 
with the plow. It also enables you to get your soil in 
much better physical condition than would be possible 
if the ground were allowed to dry out. The plowing 
should be followed up soon after, but remember this point 
— if you have been particularly persistent in preventing 
this evaporation by the disking your ground is in perfect 
condition to plow, even though you have considerable 
dry weather later in the spring. The soil will roll up 
in a moist condition, and is susceptible to the best results 
with the packer or any other tool. Follow the plow 
closely with the packer, at least every noon and night. 
There are few places where the subsurface packer 
turns the profit it will in following the plow in preparing 
a field for corn. An experiment on the Burlington farm 
in Phelps county, Nebraska, in 1904, where a strip of 
land in a field being prepared for corn was left without 
packing, the following facts were observed: Germination 
was four or five days slower; the stand of i'orn much less 
uniform and the final yield per acre fully fifteen bushels 
less. 

WATCHING THE MOISTURE. 

Fall plowing is preferable at all times where the crops 



162 Campbell's soil culture manual 

can be handled so as to permit. But never plow when 
the soil is dry. It is better to wait until spring and then 
disk early as indicated above. It is impossible to put 
too much stress on this point, and some farmers seem 
never willing to accept the reports of others as to expe- 
rience. Nothing short of paying the price of forty bushels 
or more per acre of shortage will convert the average 
man. 

A most beautiful illustration of the difference in crop 
yield from moist and dry soil was developed near Verdon, 
Nebraska, in 1906. The farmer had in the early spring 
disked a part of a 1905 corn field to raise a new variety 
of oats-, but failing to get the seed, the entire field was 
a^ain put to corn. All southeastern Nebraska was very 
dry that spring. By the time the man was ready to plow 
for corn, he found the undisked portion of his corn field 
quite dry. The field was plowed crosswi.":!^ of th^ disked 
portion. He was very much surprisea to una tne disked 
portion moist when he began plowing, but very much 
more surprised to get 67 bushels of corn per acre from 
the disked portion and only 41 bushels per acre from 
the undisked. The whole field was treated just the same 
after planting. 

After your ground is turned over, and the necessary 
work done to pulverize the surface, watch closely the 
condition. Whenever any rain comes, even though it 
only wets through the mulch or loose soil on top, it is 
necessary to immediately stir it to dry it out. 

The importance of quick work after the surface has 
been moistened, even by a slight rain, cannot be too 
strongly urged. In the use of the check row planter the 
difference in the time of germination, the rapidity of the 
young plant in ground prepared as outlined under the 



Campbell's soil culture manual 163 

head of plowing and sub-packing, as compared with 
corn put into the ground in the ordinary manner, is inter- 
esting. The growth of roots as shown under the topic 
of root development is also an interesting matter. 

AMOUNT OF SEEP. 

Here is another thing about which there is a great 
diversity of opinion even among the experienced corn 
growers of the west. Perhaps experiences have been 
different. Condition of soil and climate have something 
to do with it. 

But do not put in too much seed. Better not have 
all that you think ought to be in the field. There are 
unquestionably many cases where light crops are due 
to the presence of too much seed in the ground. Half 
as many stalks growing would have done better as pro- 
ducers, and the crop would have been two or three times 
as great. 

The remark is frequently heard: ''If you don't put 
in the seed you can't get the crop," indicating the crop 
was gauged by the quantity of seed. This is another 
mistake and is beginning to be more generally under- 
stood. The strongest evidence along this line is found 
m some experimental work w^hich we conducted in 1897, 
where eight ears of corn were raised from one single 
kernel, seven of these were well developed ears, the 
eighth having corn about half the length of the cob, 
both the upper and lower ends of the cob being bare of 
€orn. It may not be generally known, but it is a fact, 
that a stalk of corn starts from five to ten ears, and 
some or all of them will usually be abandoned by the 
stalk before the ear is in fact developed. Now the de- 
velopment of these ears depends entirely upon the phys- 
ical condition of the soil and an ample supply of avail- 



164 Campbell's soil culture manual 

able soil moisture, air and plant food at all times. It 
is true there are instances, or conditions that might exist 
by which more corn might possibly be got from two, 
three or four stalks in a hill than one. These would be 
rare cases, and where by extreme heat the demands upon 
the supply of moisture and plant food might suddenly 
destroy the vitality, or life of all the ears that were started 
on the corn, except the top one. Then a sudden and 
liberal rain immediately replenishing the soil about the 
roots with the necessary moisture which would immedi- 
ately increase the available supply of plant food and push 
to completion the single ears left on each stalk, when we 
would have two, three, or four ears to the hill as against 
one ear if we had but one stalk. Then again should the 
dry period continue longer without any rain we might 
lose all the ears, because the demand for moisture to 
supply the growth and develepment of two, three, or 
four stalks would be just that much greater than for 
one stalk, consequently the one stalk could endure the 
drouth longer without suffering, and probably reach the 
next rain when ample moisture would mature one or 
two good ears as against none at all with a larger number 
of stalks. 

ROOT DEVELOPMENT. 

The number of ears therefore, does not depend en- 
tirely on the number of stalks growing. It is substan- 
tially true that it is possible to secure as many ears from 
a crop with one kernel in a hill as from three ke/nels in 
a hill. In the semi-arid region it is much more prob- 
able the one-kernel crop will beat the three-kernel 
crop. However, where there has been storage of the 
moisture and the soil is well prepared we prefer two 
kernels in the hill and believe that we can get best results 
from this amount of seed. 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



165 



In the accompanying illustration we show a single 
stalk of corn and the general direction and development 
of roots. This illustration was made from several care- 
ful investigations of the location and development of 




Development of Corn Roots. 

corn roots. In the right hand corner you will note the 
figures to 6, each indicating the circle of roots, indi- 
cating the first development, or from the germination of 
the kernel of corn, while No. 1 indicates the second growth 



166 Campbell's soil culture manual 

of roots, which almost invariably is found to run very 
close to the surface of moisture. The depth of the early 
cultivation of the corn, providing we have no immediate 
subsequent rains to moisten the cultivated portion, 
largely regulates the location of these roots, therefore it 
is well to go slightly deeper the first time. No. 2 indi- 
cates the third line of roots, which is almost invariably 
found, although starting from the stalk a little higher, 
to make its way to a lower point beneath the line from 
which roots No. 1 seem to feed. These roots although only 
shown in the illustration as being single roots running 
to the right and left as we look at the stalk of corn, yet 
there is an entire circle around the stalk running in every 
direction, providing the condition of the ground is such 
as to encourage them. Here one can readily see the im- 
portance of cultivating as deep the first time as in any 
previous cultivation, for these roots find their way out 
through the soil in the early stages of the growth of the 
plant. Roots No. 3, which is the second circle of roots, 
are what are properly known as brace roots. These 
roots, like the subsequent roots 4, 5, and 6, find their 
course very largely straight down into the soil. They, 
however, convey but a small per- cent of moisture and 
plant food to the corn. This being almost entirely the 
work of the roots shown by 1 and 2. Here in this illus- 
tration can readily be seen the serious results from deeper 
subsequent cultivation, which might result in cutting 
off many roots. We can also see the importance of all 
work as outlined under the various headings referring to 
the preparation and care of the soil being carefully 
carried out. 

result of good cultivation. 
Here in this illustration is represented corn put ni 



CAMPBELLS SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



167 



with the check row planter, the ground plowed fully 
seven inches deep, thoroughly pulverized and made firm. 
Now, supposing we have carried out the necessary work 
to have stored and conserved moisture to considerable 
depth, five or six feet, with our plowed ground thor- 
oughly pulverized and made firm, we have the best pos- 




Cornfield by Campbell System, 84 bushels per acre, Lisbon, N. D. 

sible condition, as stated under the head of sub-sur- 
face packing, for the three all important conditions which 
we so frequently mention. That of holding the greatest 
possible amount of moisture in the soil, a condition ta 



168 Campbell's soil culture manual 

promote the most rapid movement of moisture by capil- 
lary attraction from the sub-soil up into this finely pul- 
verized portion. Also a condition most favorable to 
the development of roots and root hairs or feeders. Care- 
ful investigation of fields thus prepared after the stalks 
of corn have reached a height of three or four feet will 
show almost a perfect n3"^work of these little roots and 
feeders throughout the entire field. Scarcely a spot half 
an inch square can be found that is not permeated by 
many of these little hair roots seeking the moisture and 
plant food therefrom. 

With our moisture in ample quantities below, as 
stated, and this perfect condition of soil and develop- 
ment of roots, the growth and development of a magnif- 
icent crop of corn now depends entirely upon the time, 
manner, and kind of cultivation. It is not absolutel}^ 
necessary that the farmer should have a specially fine 
toothed cultivator. The eagle claw cultivator, that 
carries four shovels on each side of the row, is probably 
the best in general use. Again we must repeat the im- 
portance of watching closely the condition of the soil, 
that as much of the work as possible may be done at the 
time, immediately after a rain when the soil is simply 
moist and the soil grains seem to most readily separate 
one from the other, as in this condition the most perfect 
and uniformly fine mulch may be produced. 

In connection with the preparation of the soil the 
farmer should never overlook the great value of summer 
tilling of the soil with a view to bettering, not for one 
season alone,. but for many seasons, the general condition 
of his soil. The marvelous results reported from fields 
summer tilled in preparation for a crop of wheat may 
be expected in proportion from corn crops, and it is 



Campbell's soil culture manual 169 

worthy of careful experiment by every farmer in a test 
iield. Few can comprehend or believe the greatly in- 
creased yield possible from summer tilled fields over 
ordinary fitting of the soil for crops until they have seen 
the marked results from a test. 

BROAD GAUGED CULTIVATORS. 

Persons who have learned well that time is an im- 
portant element in cultivation, also realize that appro- 
priate implements are necessary. Cultivators must be 
built on the broad gauged plan if farmers are to be suc- 
cessful in cultivating the ground when, it is in just the 
right condition, a condition that does not long exist 
after a rain, and manufacturers are trying to supply this 
demand. A two or three-row machine is very important, 
that we may cultivate two or three times as much ground 
in the same length of time, and when the farmers come to 
understand the importance of rapid work and the demand 
is made, such tools will be produced, for Yankee ingenu- 
ity is prevalent in all our big manufacturing establish- 
ments. 

The fact is that we have not had in the great semi- 
arid belt any season when it was not possible to keep 
the, soil in such condition as would be suitable for good 
crops with the proper machinery. Such conditions as 
indicated here have been held about the roots of the corn 
by proper cultivation. With the loose mulch on top, to 
a depth of two and a-half to three inches, produced when 
the conditions are just right after a rain, and stirred just 
often enough during the long dry periods, we can prac- 
tically prevent any loss whatever by evaporation from 
the surface. This accomplished, the perfect physical 
■condition of our soil and complete development of roots 
will take the moisture from below sufficiently fast to pre- 



170 Campbell's soil culture manual 

vent practically any damage from extreme drouth, and 
produce a most magnificent crop of corn. 

THE CORN AREA. 

The corn area is greater than has been advertised 
Corn is not limited to a narrow belt running through the 
country. Good corn has been grown in western Florida 
where it was once supposed no corn could be grown. 
Good corn is being grown every year north of the Canada 
line. Good corn is being grown on farms far up the 
mountain slopes of the west. This does not fit in well 
with what the old books and newspapers have been telling 
us. What is the reason? 

It is not that we have got new varieties of corn from 
Siberia or Patagonia, nor is it merely that we have been 
acclimating corn for these out-of-the-way regions, though 
a great deal does depend on the selection of the seed for 
corn. 

It used to be said everywhere, and it was believed by 
everybody, that corn could not be grown where cool 
nights prevail. Our best authorities also declared sol- 
emnly only a few years ago, that corn could not be grown 
north of Iowa, nor at an altitude of 2000 feet or over. 
Now we find large yields of corn have been grown at 
various places in North Dakota and elsewhere at an 
elevation of over 6000 feet. At Walsenberg, Colorado, at 
an altitude of 6800 feet, one variety of corn, an early 
dent variety, has been grown with great success for seven 
consecutive years. The fifth, sixth and seventh years, 
the yield was over 40 bushels per acre. The acclimation 
of this corn has much to do with the success achieved, 
but the greater part of the success is due to the fact of 
a better understanding of the soil and how to till it. 

Corn is the one staple crop on thousands of farms. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



171 



It is a decidedly profitable crop where it can be used 
rightly, as for instance, where hogs and cattle are grown, 




Raised by Campbell method. Raised by common method. 

Pomeroy Farm com grown in the excessively hot weather of 1901; 
Campbell system vs. adjoining farm. 



172 Campbell's soil culture mahiJal 

and it can be used on the farm for feeding. But of course" 
its cost is much less per bushel where 60 to 100 bushels 
are grown than where 20 to 33 pushels are grown. To 
raise this limit means dollars to the farmer, and it is 
therefore worth a great deal to him to make a study of 
the problem. 

SEED CORN TESTING. 

It never pays to plant any kind of seed that is poor. 
In one respect the farmers of the semi-arid region are 
favored, because the climate is such as to preserve seed 
better than in some other places; but in another respect 
they are at a disadvantage, for the shortness of the season 
may prevent them from gathering mature seed. . The only 
safe thing to do is to gather the corn for seed carefully 
before the frost has got a chance to injure the kernels, 
and put the corn in a place where it will dry out slow^ly 
and surely and remain dry all winter. Selection of seed 
corn from the field before the regular picking of corn is 
undertaken can do no possible harm, and it may be the 
means of saving an entire crop in after years. 

Then before planting, no matter how careful the far- 
mer has been, it is to his advantage to make a thorough 
test of the corn he intends to plant. This may be done 
in a variety of ways that will suggest themselves to every 
farmer. The testing should be done early enough so that 
if the farmer finds that 10 or 20 per cent of his seed will 
not grow, or even if 5 or 2 per cent produces weak stalks, 
he can supply himself with seed in some way. 

INVESTIGATE AND KNOW. 

The facts we have given here in this chapter on corn 
ought to suggest to every farmer in the semi-arid region, 
especially every one who has accepted the old dictum 
that corn cannot be grown here, that he should experi- 



Campbell's soil culture manual 173 

ment and know for himself whether corn can be made a 
good crop on his land. A small field for experimental 
purposes is easily handled. If corn can be grown, and 
yields of from 40 to 75 bushels secured, it is folly to be 
trying for yields of from 10 to 25, and equally bad to be 
devoting the land to some other crop exclusively. The 
farmer who wishes to intellig€ntly convince himself what 
is best for his particular section would do well to lay off 
three or four small fields and try corn cultivation under 
somewhat different conditions, then act accordingly. 

TO REMEMBER. 

Here are some things to remember in connection with 
the growing of corn in the semi-arid regions: 

Plenty of water in the soil means plenty of corn. 

No after cultivation can make amends for a poor job 
of preparing the soil for the crop. Do not forget this 
fact. 

The deeper you can get water stored down in the 
ground before planting time the surer you are to get a 
big crop. 

Don't get too much taken up with the idea of shallow 
cultivation. The best condition is with from two and 
a-half to three inches of fine loose soil. 

Be ready in the spring before the ground is ready, 
then at first chance get into the field with a disk and go 
over the ground intended for corn. Nothing can pay 
better than this, no matter whether the ground was plowed 
the previous fall or not. 

Cultivate your growing corn once after the last rain, 
even though you may think you do not need the water 
for this crop. You may need it for next year and the 
time to save it is just after it has gone into the ground, 

Never permit a crust to form under the mulch. It is 



174 Campbell's soil culture manual 

as bad there as it would be on the surface, and it will form 
there unless you watch closely during long periods of heat 
and drouth. 

There is no work done, cost considered, that seems to 
go further toward increasing the yield of corn than that 
of early double disking where the land is not fall plowed. 

Do not permit the weeds to grow. Every weed means 
less corn. They are silent thieves that take away all 
that you have saved up for your crops. 

Be sure of your seedo . 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 175 



CHAPTER XXI. 



WHEAT. 

Wheat is one of the great staples of the world; bread 
made from wheat flour is the most . common wholesome 
food for all classes of people. It is produced over a very 
large portion of the world, and yet an over-production 
seems impossible except that it may be from a» local 
condition at a time following a shortage in a country 
that may export large quantities, a sudden shortage by 
drouth woula turn other purchasing countries to other 
sources, then when the country reached its normal pro- 
duction again it might find difficulty in getting the same 
trade back; but in a country like the United States with 
its city population so rapidly growing, no man need fear 
the over-production of wheat if it is kept steadily on the 
increase. 

The main object of this chapter is to show how fluc- 
tuation may be prevented and a steady advance in yield 
may be sustained. One thing is certain, cheap land does 
not mean cheap wheat; cheap wheat is produced by in- 
creasing the yield per acre without materially increasing 
the labor and total cost of production. It is to this end 
we have spent almost a life time, and have reached the point 
where to us it seems ridiculous for a farmer to own a por- 
tion of land and spend his time in directing the work and 
only get 10 to 15 bushels per acre. 

There are no good wheat lands in this United States 
that cannot be made to yield three and four times this 



176 Campbell's soil culture manual 

amount; and especially is this true in the great semi-arid 
section, and that simply by and through a better under- 
standing of the soils and their cultivation. 

As there are two distinct kinds of wheat, spring and 
winter, and the time of seeding so widely different, we 
must of necessity treat them under the two headings. 

SPRING WHEAT. 

Spring wheat in the northern sections and on up into 
Canada, has become a very important crop. In preparing 
ground for this crop little attention has been given in the 
past to the all important question of storing and conserv- 
ing the rain water. It has been simply a question of 
plowing at any time when the farmer was ready to plow, 
the seeding and harrowing likewise, without reference to 
the condition of the soil, or the storage of water. 

From 1902 to 1906 there has been a growing tendency 
to early fall plowing. This has been encouraged largely 
because of the possible rain of sufficient magnitude that 
might to some degree dissolve the plowed soil and settle 
it more compactly in the bottom of the furrow. The ten- 
dency during the same years has been not to plow more 
than four or five inches. This is because there has^ not 
been any general knowledge of soil physics and scientific 
soil culture. Therefore the attempt to overcome one evil 
by committing another in the more arid portions of the 
wheat belt in the northwest and all similar sections. The 
application of summer culture methods as outlined in 
this volume would greatly improve wheat growing, land 
values and prosperity generally. 

As previously stated during the past seven years of 
our very marked success with summer culture its prin- 
ciples unfortunately have been confounded with summer 
fallow. This fact has very materially retarded its general 



CAMPB-ELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 177 

endorsement for the reason that almost any farmer knows 
that to summer fallow as commonly practiced is a waste 
of time and money. In the semi-arid belt it scarcely 
improves the physical condition of the soil and does not 
materially increase the available fertility. While we have 
thoroughly discussed this question under another heading 
referring especially to that of '^Summer Culture/^ yet its 
work is of such great importance, and the additional expense 
so little compared to results, that we cannot resist a repe- 
tition in part. If the work is properly done the returns 
are large. Begin first in the early spring, just as soon aa 
the frost is out of the ground, and the soil sufficiently dry 
to permit of disking without the soil adhering to the disk, 
lapping half, so as to thoroughly pulverize the surface, thus 
putting your ground in condition to prevent evaporation, 
as well as to admit of the rapid percolation of the early 
rains and you will be surprised at results. Keep the sur- 
face harrowed or loosened by the use of some tool to the 
depth of at least two inches, plowing in June or July, the 
time when the other work is least pressing, to a depth of 
six or seven incites, following the plow closely with the 
sub-surface packer and let the packer be followed closely 
witJi the harrow, keeping in mind that all important point 
of working the soil when it is in the best condition to 
most thoroughly pulverize, continuing this surface culti- 
vation after the plowing through the entire season. In 
this kind of work in the northwest, as well as in any por- 
tion of the semi-arid belt, it is very important to do this 
surface cultivating, whether it be with the common harrow 
or spring tooth or disk, at a time when the soil is in the 
best possible condition; that is, simply moist, not dry or 
wet. Then you have a fine, even soil mulch composed of 
minute lumps, a condition you cannot get if the soil is dry 



178 Campbell's soil culture manual 

or wet. It is when soil is in this condition that the par- 
ticles seem most readily to separate, not simply into dust 
but these minute lumps made from slightly moist soil when 
dry will never blow. 

Having had fifteen years experience in the northwest 
we are well aware of this blowing difficulty on the lighter 
soils, which can be entirely prevented by care with reference 
to the conditions of the soil as above stated. It is very 
desirable in following this plan to keep the weeds entirely 
clean from the field. Don't for a moment encourage the 
idea that weeds are valuable to turn under, for there is 
so little value to them that it is not worthy of considera- 
tion, but the water drawn out of the soil by these weeds 
while growing is far more valuable to the coming crop. 
Watch it carefully. In the spring time try to catch 
this ground as early as possible with the harrow, and put 
in your seed not to _ exceed one-half bushel to the acre. 
This quantity is ample. 

As noted in the following section of this chapter the 
largest yields we have ever got, 62 bushels per acre of 
winter wheat on summer tilled land, was grown from 20 
pounds of seed, one-third of a bushel. Notice cut No. 16, 
which represents the ideal condition of the soil. The lower 
portion of the furrow or plowed portion has been made 
fine and firm, first by plowing when the soil was in perfect 
condition to plow, as explained under heading of ''Plow- 
ing," then fined and firmed by following with the sub- 
surface packer, and the surface kept loose by cultivation. 

THE DRILL 

The drill used is what we term the closed heel shoe drill, 
with shoes six or seven inches apart. It is our aim to let 
the shoe run from one-half to one inch into the firm moist 
soil beneath the mulch as shown in the illustration at the 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



179 



left. The seed is deposited in the bottom of a ''V" shaped 
crevice, as there it rests in a bed of moist soil. Germina- 
tion is rapid because of the ideal condition, air in proper 
quantities reaches it through the fine but loose soil above, 
and moisture is plenty because the kernel is closely sur- 




Cut No. 16. Wheat in Three Stages of Growth; Kernel, Single Stalk 
and Stooled Out. 

rounded bv fine, firm soil carrying all the capillary water 
it can hold, which is quickly given off to the kernel as soon 
as it comes in contact with the many moist particles. 

In the center we have the blade about three inches 
above the surface. This stage of growth we have almost 
invariably noted on the morning of the fourth day after 
the seed is deposited, when this ideal soil condition is at- 
tained. Such rapid growth of the stem is due only to the 



180 Campbell's soil culture manual 

fact that a perfect root system is immedaitely established^ 
as shown in illustration, because of the perfect physical 
condition of the soil and the large amount of available 
fertility that has been developed by the summer tillage.. 
Rememiber the physical condition of the soil above represent- 
ed is very easily attained in all semi-arid sections. 

At the end of the cut we have the same kernel a little 
later. Note the liberal stooling. The one lone stalk has 
developed dozens more, and why? Because of the enor- 
mous root system that has developed, and in every con- 
ceivable direction from the bottom of the stem these little 
rootlets have penetrated the soil, from these little rootlets 
thousands of little hair roots or feeders are drinking in 
the moisture laden with plant elements, sending it to the 
main stalk; but small as it is it cannot begin to utilize 
all that this little army of food gatherers bring in; the 
result is another stalk and another until enough have 
pushed their leaves into the sunlight to take care of all 
that is gathered in and provided by the roots. 

Now take notice that we are approaching a possible 
big crop of wheat, for it is probable we have an average 
of ten, fifteen, or twenty heads started to every kernel, 
we planted. If we can finish and mature a good head on 
each stalk what can we look for in yield. Two things, 
both of which are largely within the power of jnan to con- 
trol, must be previously provided for, water and availa- 
ble fertility. We may have plenty of moisture and yet 
not the fertility; moisture can be stored as shown under 
the head of percolation. Fertility in case of a summer 
tilled field as shown above was developed during the heated 
portion of the season when the soil was fine and firm, 
with a loose mulch over the surface holding the moisture 
at the top, of the firm soil into which the air readily per- 



Campbell's soil culture manual 181 

meated after passing through the loose mulch on the sur- 
face. With the air and the moisture, through the medium 
of heat and light, chemical action takes place and the 
available fertility is the result; and so long as ample moist- 
ure can be supplied from the storage below by that wonder- 
ful phenomenon, capillary attraction, which never fails 
to do its part, all necessary plant elements or fertility 
are ever available to complete the big crop. 

Remember there are three requisites for the big and 
sure results, a perfect physical condition of the soil, fertility 
made available, and ample moisture stored below. 

KIND OF GRAIN DRILL. 

That the drill is by all means preferable in planting 
all small grain, there is practically no denial. Especially 
is it true in the more arid sections, but there are many 
kinds of drills of the more common makes, as there are 
three especially different m^ethods of depositing the grain. 

In cut No. 17 we show practically the condition of the 
soil after one of each. There is no question but what 
many will criticise some of our ideas, but we do not draw 
our conclusions from theory or from short and hasty con- 
sideration, nor without careful comparative tests. The 
disk drill is quite popular, its draft is light, but it does not 
leave the grain in anything like an ideal condition; for 
the soil is lifted and left loose over and around the kernel. 

Next to this is the press drill. Note the difference in 
germination of the grain of the two. By packing the soil 
onto the kernel with the press wheel you notice more 
perfect rooting and the growth is considerably in advance 
of the grain put in with the disk drill. The press drill 
has its objections, especially is this true where the seed 
is deposited in soil that has not been sub-packed, as was 
the case from which we secured our illustration. 



182 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



In seasons of normal rainfall with the usual dry period 
in May or June, the condition as shown would bring a small 
yield of wheat. The action of a press wheel is somewhat 
coarse and loose, or we might say the soil as it is found 
by ordinary fitting is not what most farmers imagine. The 
shape of the packed portion is much the shape of an egg 
little end down, as shown in the cut. The result is a rapid 




Cut No. 17. Effect of Seeding with Three Kinds of Drills. 

early growth of roots and a liberal stooling; the roots and 
rootlets, however, are mainly confined within the finer and 
more packed portion as shown in cut. This fact we as- 
certained by cutting a deep trench across two rows thus 
planted and with a fine stream from the nozzle of a small 
hand-pump, such as is usually used to wash buggies with, 
we brought out the conditions shown. Now the trouble 
usually is soon apparent when a dry period comes on after 
the early rank growth when all the plants and all the stools 
are obliged to depend mainly on this narrow packed strip, 



Campbell's soil culture manual 183 

and we have noted instances when three-fourths of the 
stalks or stools would die down in a single hot day simply 
because the root system was too narrow and the movement 
of moisture by capillary attraction too slow up to the nar- 
row strip. Because of the excessive heat the demand of the 
plants for moisture was greater than the condition of the 
soil could supply, and therefore the little strip becomes 
depleted of its soil moisture and down goes the plants one 
after another to the number that can be fed by the avail- 
able moisture through the present root system. 

In the next section we see how the closed hee! shoe 
drill has deposited its seed into the fine firm moist soil. 
The root system in this condition is not only perfect on 
the start, but is lasting because the entire plowed portion 
has been made fine and firm to the very bottom. These 
points mean much when you consider all kinds of seasons. 
Farming is not successful farming until you are able to 
overcome all possible conditions that tend to a small crop. 
listing wheat. 

During the past few years of desperate efforts to over- 
come drouthy conditions and to if possible improve on 
the methods of insuring annual crops, there have been a 
number who have tried the plan of putting in v/heat with 
a lister. In cut No. 18, we show the plan more for the 
purpose of putting some inquiring minds right as to the 
real merits of the method in the conditions which follow. 
It is claimed by the most sanguine advocates that the great 
advantage is that the rains run down into the bottom of 
the furrow, then on into the soil below, to the roots of the 
plants, and cause a strong healthy growth. But close in- 
vestigation shows a root development similar to that 
shown in the cut, and that instead of the real feeding ground 
being below the furrow, it - is in the ridges between the 



184 



CAMBPELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



furrows, because here it is that the most ideal condition 
exists. The mulch that lies over the top of the ridge 
prevents the moisture escaping even more completely 
than in the bottom of the furrow after a good rain which, 
dissolves and packs the soil in the bottom. In the ridge 
between the rows it is never too wet and always moist, as 
long as moisture exists below and with the proper proper- 




Cut No. 18. Showing Growth of Listed Wheat. 

ties of air, water, heat and light, fertility is available. 
Don't ever be misled into the idea that plants feed especi- 
ally close to the plant body, but rather where the most 
ideal conditions exist. 

Then again be careful to observe all the facts before 
drawing a conclusion. Any scheme that will provide the 
proper proportion of moisture below has an advantage, but 
bear in mind that moisture is not the only element to 
court. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



185 



PROPER DEPTHS OF SEEDING 

Very much couid be said on the subject of the proper 
depths of seeding, for the reason that when you make a 
statement as to a certain depth it must be followed with 
many ifs, pros, and cons; therefore we bave proAdded cut 
No. 19 as a base of argument. In this illustration, how- 
ever, we assume that we have the ideal soil condition. 

At one end may be seen the seed too shallow. • Under 
this condition germination is slower and the plant is more 



r 










J]._.^ 




j^^ 




^^fe 


-V. -. , 




~ ^<^ 
















^^^^^ 




'^^jh 


^^^S^^'^Ki^ ''■' 






-^<^ 


^p 




Wm 


l^^^t^x-'- 






■?^ 


''.^^^ 


-"'C^?!^ f vCX_ 










1 


■^ 


# 'W^^ 




- 






1 


%\ 


'■mmu 


J /ill 




L. ] 


\ 


/ 

'I 



ABC 

Cut No. 19. Effect of Different Depths of Seeding, (a) Too Shallow 
Seeding, (b) Proper Depth of Seeding, (c) Too Deep Seeding. 

quickly affected by excessive heat. If the entire soil was 
fitted in the more common loose way this seed would have 
a hard time to exist in case of dry weather. 

In the center we have the more ideal condition. Here 
germination is more rapid, a perfect root system, and prac- 
tically no loss of time, while at the other end the seed was 
put too deep. Germination being somewhat slower, a 
longer period is required for the first leaf to reach the sun- 



186 Campbell's soil' culture manual 

light, then when it gets to the proper stage for growth, a 
new set of roots form just at the point where air, moisture, 
and heat seem to mingle in the most' ideal quantities. Here 
the complete system of feeding roots is established and the 
root or stem from there down to the kernel withers and 
dies. 

What is here shown regarding wheat is also true of all 
other grains, corn included. One of the main points we 
wish to establish here is that depth of seeding does not 
establish the depth of rooting. 

HARROWING SPRING WHEAT 

The harrowing of spring wheat is not today a common 
practice. Some wheat growers have never heard it agi- 
t£ited, but more do not believe it can be done without 
causing a permanent damage to the crop; and yet we have- 
noted and watched results where a part of a field was 
harrowed and a part left unharrowed, when the final yield 
would show more than double where it was harrowed than 
where it was not harrowed. 

The harrowing of wheat and all other small grain is a 
subject of vital importance, but like all other branches of 
soil culture there is a right and a wrong condition, a right 
and a wrong time, a right and a wrong manner of harrow- 
ing. 

SOIL CONDITIONS 

The first condition to consider is the soil condition. 
Just a glance at cut No. 16. The soil at what we term the 
root bed is here shown fine and firm. Note the root sys- 
tem. In case of a heavy rain that would dissolve and 
settle the loose mulch, thereby assisting the loss of our 
stored water below, as well as shutting the air out. Some- 
thing must be done. Just as soon as the surface is suffi- 
ciently dry so the soil will not stick to the harrow this 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 187 

field must be harrowed. While you may destroy some 
plants, the loosening up of the surface brings back that 
ideal condition for the development of plant elements that 
means so much to the growing plant, and it would be 
better in many instances to destroy one half of the grain 
and give the other half a good chance, than to starve out 
all the plants. 

That soil condition most favorable for the perfect root 
system is most favorable for harrowing. Never harrow 
after the surface has become dry and hard, but always 
when moist. This is almost invariably possible at some 
opportune time. 

THE WEEDER 

There is no place where the weeder that is properly 
constructed plays its little part so completely as upon 
a field of wheat or other small grain which has been put 
into a field that has that ideal condition and the proper 
quantity of seed has been sown. The surface can be so 
nicely loosened and yet so little grain is destroyed, be- 
cause of the fiexibleness of the teeth, but if you have no 
weeder use the common lever harrow. But if your soil 
has been left so light and loose that you have no root bed, 
then be careful, for it is better that you summer till the 
field and get two or three crops next year, than to chance 
a failure of a crop on a piece of soil so unscientifically fitted 
that it will not permit of harrowing. 

TIME OF HARROWING 

Care must be taken to catch the soil moist if possible. 
The best time to harrow is when the grain is beginning to 
stool, or when three to four inches high. 

If, however, the field should unfortunately pass through 
the spring without rain enough to settle the mulch it is 
not necessary to harrow. Then again sbould you get a 



188 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



heavy rain and harrowing had been done and a second rain 
should come, it may he necessary to harrow again. The 
great effort should be to get the foliage of the grain to cover 



VV 











U 1 1 ! \\i\m/si ' u ^ ; ' \ > , /^, Ai' 1"^ 




Harvesting Wheat Fifty Years Ago. 



the soil, while the surface is still loose, in order that there 
may be free access of air to the firm soil. Above all things 



cambpell's soil culture manual 189 

don^t look upon this air circulation as a mere fad or theory. 
Its importance and great value has been proven over and 
over again in our work. 

AFTER HARVEST 

When a crop has been taken off, get on this ground as 
quickly as possible with the disk harrow. Double-disking 
is exceedingly valuable. The small size disk, fourteen or 
fifteen inch, set at a good angle will quite thoroughly pul- 
verize the ground, but with the larger disk it is impossible 
to get a good condition without double-disking. Remem- 
ber that the object is to thoroughly pulverize the surface 
two or three inches, to not only prevent the loss of any 
moisture we may have below, but to have the ground in 
the best possible condition on the surface for the rapid 
percolation, or getting of the rain waters down into the 
soil. Lose no time after any rain in again loosening the 
surface, especially upon any ground that you may have 
already plowed. After the disking, plow and pack and 
harrow, as stated with reference to summer culture. Should 
you get any heavy rains late in the fall, lose no time in 
loosening the surface to save the water, for you may need 
it the following year. 

When spring time comes get over your ground as quickly 
as possible with the harrow, aiming if possible to do this 
before the surface gets dry, put in your seed, not too thick, 
and await its developments when it reaches the stooling 
point, which it will do early in the season if your ground 
is in the proper condition. At this point of growth, that 
is when the wheat is beginning to stool or sucker, go over 
your ground with a long-toothed weeder. This will loosen 
the surface and destroy the weeds. The checking of 
evaporation by this cultivation will urge oh your wheat, 
when it will soon cover the ground, then the danger of 



190 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



evaporation is much • less. The rich prairie soils of the 
Dakotas, Minnesota and other sections of the northwest 
should produce thirty to fifty bushels of spring wheat 




EASTERN COLORADO WHEAT 

Crop of Forty-eight Bushels per Acre in Eastern Colorado in 1906 

Without Irrigation. 

instead of five to twenty, and will if the soil is properly 
handled. A thirty bushel crop should be got any year. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



191 



Don't think for a moment that you can get this rapid 
growth and early heavy stooling of the wheat unless your 
ground is thoroughly fined and firmed and you have held 
the moisture below, forming a seed bed in which there will be 
a rapid developmtnt of strong roots w^hich is the direct 
result of prolific stooling. The use of the weeder or har- 
row on wheat after it has begun to stool, or is three or 
four inches high, when your ground is loose and porous 




WYOMING WHEAT. 

Showing What is Being Done on the Fine Prairies Without Irrigation. 



where the roots should grow is not always a safe propo- 
sition. The root development is so light that much of 
the wheat may be easily pulled up and destroyed. 



WINTER WHEAT 



Winter wheat is a little different proposition from the 
spring wheat. Here again we believe when the farmer 
in the winter wheat belt has learned the value of summer 



192 Campbell's soil culture manual 

culture, and how it will not only greatly increase the av- 
erage yield, but make a failure, so far as drouth is con- 
cerned, an impossibility, a larger acreage will be thus 
treated. 

This part of the Campbell system of soil sulture if 
carried out to the letter in the winter wheat sections, 
especially where the crop will ripen in time to finish cut- 
ting in June, will certainly revolutionize wheat growing, 
not only in the more arid sections, but in the more humid 
sections. 

The plan should be in case of old land, to summer 
till about one-third of the land thoroughly each year until 
the 'entire field has been gone overj then follow closely 
the following plan: As soon as the crop is harvested, 
double disk the field; better still to follow the harvester 
with the disk; harrow or otherwise cultivate after each 
subsequent rain, until as near as it may be possible to the 
middle of July; then plow and follow same plan as is laid 
down for summer culture, and seed again at proper time. 

This line of work if carefully followed after one season's 
thorough summer culture will "result in further big crops, 
because the disking, plowing and other cultivation during 
July and August and early September, gives opportunity 
for further development of plant elements as well as stor- 
age of miosture for the next crop. 

The experience on the Pomeroy model farm at Hill 
City, Kansas, for seven years, 1900 to 1906 inclusive, at 
the Burlington farm at Holdrege, Nebraska, from 1903 to 
1906, inclusive, and many other points in western Kansas 
and Nebraska, and eastern Colorado, and the Panhandle of 
Texas, are certainly evidence that our ideas drawn from 
twenty-seven years of experience anc^ observation, repre- 
sent something more than theory. They at laast carry 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



193 



very strong evidence as to thevalue of this class of work, 
where, by this very careful preparing of the soil, having 
plowed about seven inches deep, followed our plow closely 
with the sub-surface packer, and the packer with the har- 
row, going over our fields immediately after the heavy 
rains or as soon as the soil was sufficiently dry to permit it 










V^^mmm-mi&tdmssmtim 







-r^c'^M 



The 1904 Wheat Crop, Pomeroy Farm, Kansas. 

we had formed a fine, firm and very moist seed bed. .Under 
these conditions twelve quarts of seed was found to be 
ample. Its germination was so quick and the rapid de- 
velopment of roots brought about by the very favorable 
physical condition of the soil, caused the liberal stooling, 
and in thirty days after seeding our ground was nearly 
or quite covered with the wheat. The immediate disking 



194 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



after the winter wheat crop is removed is of very great 
importance; as we have repeatedly said, it is of two-fold 
value, as it prevents the loss by evaporation of any moist- 
ure in the soil, and puts the surface in the best possible 




mammM 



Gemiiiiatioii of Wheat in Soil Properly Fitted and in Loose Soil. 

condition for the rapid percolation of later rain waters. 
The plowing may be done a little later, and to get the best 
results a good depth of plowing is necessary, and then the 
plow should be followed with the sub-surface packer. Mark 
you, we are after a condition that will not only enable -us 
to get the best possible results, but prevents any damage 
by drouth and assures good crops annually, which means 



campbll's soil culture manual 195 

prosperity in its highest degree. A fine, firm seed bed, 
or root bed, has many advantages over the coarse, loose 
condition. 

In the first place, one-third only of the seed is necessary, 
in the next place the growth and development of the plant 
is much more rapid, and will soon cover the surface. In 
the third place, the development of roots is much greater, 
we are able to draw moisture and plant food from a much 
larger percentage of the soil, and last, but not least, we 
have a condition of soil that will hold a much greater per 
cent of moisture as well as one having a greater power 
of capillary attraction, enabling us to keep up the supply 
of moisture which we draw from below, where, by careful 
work, much of the rain waters are stored,, that under ordi- 
nary conditions would have been lost by evaporation or 
run off, 

WHEAT THE PIONEEK'S MONEY CROP 

Wheat is the money crop for the pioneer and will 
surely put him on his feet if he will but follow Scientific 
Soil Culture to the letter, whereby he makes the crop a 
sure one so far as the general climatic conditions may go, 
but when once on his feet he should change to mixed or 
real farming. 

BURNING STUBBLE 

The question of burning stubble has received quite a 
discussion in many localities. This, however, is a one- 
sided question. Stubble should never be burned, as it is 
sending up in smoke what means much to the soil. 

The usual and only difficulty is overcome entirely by 
the use of the sub-surface packer. See cut elsewhere. 

We not only oppose burning stubble, but favor cutting 
the stubble just as high as possible, that just as much 



196 Campbell's soil culture manual 

vegetable matter as possible may be returned to the soil^ 
and when you get a crop after summer tilling running 40 
to 60 bushels per acre then cut it as high as you can. You 
can bank on increasing the humus to some degree with the 
enormous root growth together with the straw. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAl* 197 



CHAPTER XXII. 



GROWING POTATOES. 

The potato is another crop which in the catalogue 
of the the western farmer is too often Hsted with the things 
which he thinks can only be grown where there is an abun- 
dance of water in the soil for the plants and to waste. The 
potato is a strong grower and does require a great deal of 
soil fertility, but it is not a crop to be confined to the more 
humid regions. 

There are persons who have been insisting for a long 
time that the only thing to do if potatoes are to be grown 
in the west to supply the demand for home consumption, 
some new variety must be developed or imported that 
will better suit the climatic conditions. This is a vain 
hope except so long as little or no attention is given to 
the vitally important matter of the proper fitting of the 
soil for the crop. 

Of course there is always danger of loss from the rav- 
ages of insects and from leaf or tuber diseases; but it 
can be safely asserted that these dangers are not as great 
in the semi-arid belt as in other parts of the country gen- 
erally. In fact the better preparation of the soil made 
necersary here and the perfect cultivation which must 
be followed for success, practically insures against loss 
from any of these various causes. 

In fact, many farmers have been making a success 
with potatoes in the semi-arid belt for a number of years. 
The writer has knowledge of instances in southern Nebraska 



198 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



where in the spring of 1901 there was almost entire ab- 
sence of rain, yet one 20-acre field averaged 100 bushels 
per acre, and the potatoes were sold at $1.00 a bushel. 
This was with cultivation under the Campbell method- 
while all around the potato crop was a total failure. There 










'^^JA''^<^' 




mmL 

Cut No. 20. Root Development with shallow cultivation. 



is really no reason why good crops of potatoes cannot be 
grown all the way from the Texas line to Canada, with 
right preparation of the soil and care in cultivation during 
the growing season. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 199 

preparing the soil 

The preparation of the soil is, in growing potatoes as 
in almost everything else, the chief matter for considera- 
tion. In the chapter on'sub-surface packing will be found 
illustrations of the different ways of preparing the soil for 
the root and seed bed, from which the reader may gain 
a good idea of what is meant. While we have said much 
upon the importance of a proper condition of the soil when 
all work is done, we must almost repeat it again, because 
so very much depends upon this to secure fineness, firm- 
ness and moisture in the soil such as may be most favor- 
able to a rapid and full development of roots such as v/ill 
lead them to permeate every part or portion of the soil. 

In the ideal root and seed bed as shown in the cut the 
soil was plowed eight inches deep, after having been thor- 
oughly disked to a depth of fully three and a-half inches; 
the disking having been done early our soil was moist and 
was in the best possible condition to plow; as the furrow 
rolled over the fine, dry top soil went under> the moist soil 
coming to the surface in an ideal condition, and while 
moist the particles seemed to readily separate one from 
the other and adjust themselves without material resist- 
ance to the desired compactness, as the packer wheels 
rolled over the plowed ground, which was done quite close 
to the plow. 

In the illustrations given we have been able to show 
only the main lateral branches of the roots. The little 
hair roots or feeders may be found in such soil running in 
every direction, so completely filling the soil as to draw 
moisture and plant food from every portion. 

In the cut in this chapter, where the soil and roots are 
shown highly magnified^ is something that will bear study 
by every farmer. It represents at the right a section of 



200 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



a branch root showing the cell formation; from these outei 
cells are the hair roots or feeders A A, running through 




Cut No. 21 . Deep Cultivation. 

among the particles of soil represented by the dark spots; 
around these spots are lines parallel with the shape of the 
particle of soil which represent the film or covering of 
water. The white spots represent air spaces. Now, if 
the reader will look at this cut and think for a moment 
that these hair roots or little tubes marked A A in their 
full size in the soil are barely perceptible to the naked eye, 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



201 



and then imagine that these soil grains and air spaces here 
shown are proportionately smaller in their real soil con- 
dition, he can gain a good understanding of what is the 
ideal condition of the soil to which he has been laboring. 
If you are after a sure crop, as well as a good crop of 
potatoes, get your root bed as near this condition as pos- 




Cut No. 15. Magnified Roots and Soil. 

sible. Having previously succeeded in storing a liberal 
amount cf m_oisture in the soil below, as shown iii cut No. 
8, you can plant your potatoes knov/ing you have done all 
you could do to assure success so far. 

SEED AND PLANTING 

The planting of potatoes can be done at the time of 
plowing if desired, by simply dropping the potatoes on the 
side of the furrow^s about three inches from the bottom, 
so that the next furrow -will cover them. Better results, 
perhaps, will come from more complete preparation of the 



202 CAMBPKLL'rf SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

ground, as for any other crop, then planting with a potato 
planter about four inches deep. 

As to variety of potatoes it is well known that there 
are a number of excellent varieties, and one farmer may 
have a preference for one while another farmer is sure hit 
kind is the best. But almost any of the standard varietiet 
will do. In selecting a new variety do not get one thas 
has not been sufficiently tested. It is well in trying ous 
new varieties to begin in a small way and work up for seed. 
The Early Ohio is an old standard variety, but it is not the 
only good one. For seed we prefer large potatoes, cutting 
them as near two eyes in a piece as convenient, then plant- 
ing one piece in a hill. For the more arid portions of the 
semi-arid belt we would plant the rows about three feet 
ten inches apart and drop the seed, cut as above, about 
twenty inches cpart. In the lower altitudes, or where 
there is a greater rainfall, plant somewhat closer. Remem- 
ber, the one great point is to never let your potato plant 
lack for water. If you do your crop suffers. Small and 
knotty potatoes are the result of the potato plant getting 
short of water at certain times, which tends to force the 
ripening or maturing period. Then a sudden and heavy 
rainfall or the irrigation of the potatoes after this condi- 
tion forces a new and rapid growth which results in setting 
a second lot of potatoes, some of which may appear on 
the roots and others on the sides of the already formed 
potato. 

CULTIVATION 

Care should be taken in cultivation of the potato not 
to destroy the roots. The potato is prolific of roots, and 
these reach out into every part of the soil between the 
rows. Too deep cultivation will destroy many of these 
roots, especially after the plants have grown to a consid- 



Campbell's soil culture manual 203 

erable size, while shallower cultivation encourages the plant 
to send out its roots laterally so that the value of late 
rains may be realized, most quickly. There is no better 
tool in the early cultivation than the harrow or weeder, if 
you will use it freely and with some judgment. The long 
toothed weeder may be used from the time the crop is 
planted until the tops are, too large to draw between the 
teeth, providing you catch the soil in just the proper con- 
dition, especially in the average sand loam soils. Should 
you get a very heavy rain that may result in packing the 
surface to a considerable depth, then it will be necessary 
to cultivate with some fine tooth cultivator, as in cultiva- 
ting corn, but in such case it is well to follow the cultivator 
closely by crossing the rows with the weeder. This more 
completely fines the mulch as well as levels it, also loosens 
the soil among the vines, and cleans the young weeds. 
Watch closely the condition, however, and be sure to keep 
the soil stirred deep enough, even if it is necessary to use 
the cultivator; a mulch of fine, loose soil of fully two and 
a-half inches in depth should be kept as soon as the potato 
tops get to any size, and the soil should be stirred often 
enough to keep the top of the firm soil beneath the mulch 
in a moist condition. This condition can be kept if you 
have moisture stored below, and do not plant too thick 
and watch your time of cultivation. Upon the care and 
attention given over to this part of the work depends the 
quality and quantity of the crop. Don't stop cultivation 
when they are in blossom, but don't destroy the roots. 

If you want to raise a prize crop put them on a piece 
of summer tilled ground, plowing again in the spring fully 
eight inches and handle as suggested. 



204 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



TREES ON THE FARM. 

Plant trees! It is old advice, and ever good. It was 
the best possible advice for the pioneers of New England 
when they planned their farm homes; it was still better 
for those who went into the valleys of the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi and converted the prairies into gardens. And 
so it is the best advice to be given those who are making 
homes on the great semi-arid plains of the west. Wherever 
the trees will grow and flourish there can be agricultural 
pursuits; and trees can be grown anywhere in the semi- 
arid country. 

Shade trees and for shelter and ornament ought to be 
on every farm of this region. We haA^e abundantly dem- 
onstrated, and can furnish the evidence that will convince 
the most skeptical that fine trees for this purpose can be 
grown in five years in regions regarded generally as the 
most unfavorable for tree planting. And what is there 
that can add more to making farm life pleasant and sat- 
isfactory than a lot of shade trees surrounding the farm 
house, so that at the noon hour or in idle moments the 
farmer may rest out in the open air in the shade of a fine 
tree. Those who have first looked upon the barren plains 
of the west have regarded this as only a dream; but the 
dream is a reality on hundreds of farms. 

Then as to trees for fruit, and with these the small 
shrubbery of the garden for small fruits of various kinds, 
and the vines. Good orchards are being grown in the semi- 



Campbell's soil culture manual 205 

arid region under the system of scientific soil culture as 
we have demonstrated. The problem is a little different 
from that of orcharding in the older states and where 
there is moisture to waste, but intelligent application of 
the principles which are necessarily followed in farming 
under semi-arid conditions, will inevitably point the way 
to success in the growing of orchards. 

Trees for fruit and ornament and for the wood, have 
transformed the praries of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Mis- 
souri and eastern Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas, 
until the very face of nature seems different. What has 
been done here can and will be done further west where it 
is commonly supposed conditions are not so favorable. It 
will be shown that conditions are favorable, if only we 
know how to take advantage of these conditions. 

The traveler who journeys over the region along the 
eastern line of Colorado and further west and who is able 
to compare the appearance of the country with what it 
was only a few years ago, must be struck with the change 
which is taking place already, and if he understands what 
is possible he can easily picture the still further improve- 
ment possible in a few years. No farmer living in this 
region who possesses any enterprise or any pride in his 
surroundings but has now a fine grove or orchard, or both, 
and trees healthy and beautiful. 

PRACTICAL WORK 

The test of tree growing is found in practical expe- 
rience. Some remarkable results have been attained and 
these are well worthy of consideration by everyone at all 
interested in the subject. An experience at the Pomeroy 
model farm near Hill City, Kansas, covering a period of 
five years or more will illustrate well what can be done. 
The land selected for the buildings around which a large 



206 Campbell's soil culture manual 

number of shade and ornamental trees were set, and for 
the orchard, is on a high divide overlooking the town, with 
quite a considerable south slope. 

The south slope is much more unfavorable than the 
north, as it gets the rays of the sun more directly and catches 
the force of the south winds during the extreme heated 
portion of the season; but this south slope was purposely 
selected that visitors might see that what could be done 
under such conditions might be done at any point. For 
the most successful growing of trees or orchard a northeast 
slope should be selected as most favorable. 

The ground for our trees was first double-disked early 
in March, 1900, plowed in April about eight inches deep, 
the plow followed by the sub-surface packer, and the 
packer with a good harrow. The ground was then laid 
out by using the check chain of a corn planter. A small 
stake was set for each tree or shrub, and nine hundred and 
sixty-four of these stakes were thus set. 

When the trees were received from the nursery a deep 
trench was dug and all trees heeled in with tops pointing 
north. Care was taken to keep the roots from the air, and 
what is most important, to keep them moist. When taken 
from the boxes they were quickly covered with dirt, and 
Yvsiter turned on. A kerosene barrel was sawed in two 
parts, each half barrel was filled about two thirds full of 
water, and sufficient dirt was added to form a thin solution 
of mud. when the trees were taken from the trench 
when the workmen were ready to engage in the actual 
work of setting the trees, and put into this solution one 
by one, and enough mud adhered to the roots to keep them 
protected from the air and sun while being handled during 
the process of setting. 



CAMPBELL^'S SBIL CULTURE MANUAL 



207 



SETTING THE TREES 

In setting the trees in the orchard two boards four feet 
long by six inches wide were provided with a notch in the 




Peach tree, 5 months after setting, Pomeroy farm. 

center and a notch at each end, both boards being cut 
exactly alike. The man who dug the holes used one of the 



208 Campbell's soil culture manual 

boards, and placing the center notch on the stake pulled 
the stake out and set it in one of the end notches and added 
another stake in the other end notch. He then removed 
the board and dug the hole. 

In digging the hole the tree was examined to note the 
size and shape of root and hole dug sufficiently large to 
allow spreading all the roots out their full length and no 
more. The man who directed the tree setting carried the 
second notched board and after the hole was completed 
he placed the board on the two stakes, and dropping his 
tree into the hole brought the body to the middle notch, 
thus holding it exactly where the original stake had been 
set. 

In setting a tree a helper using a hoe pulverized the 
dirt that was still fresh and moist, hauling it to the roots 
as fast as a man could place it in with his hands and by 
the aid of a trowel. Great care was taken to work the 
soil in about roots. When sufficient dirt was in to cover 
the roots a quart of water was turned in. By vibrating 
the tree slightly the water soon percolated through the 
moist soil, dissolving the particles and settling them closely 
around the roots. The holes were then filled within two 
inches of the top, and then tramped firmly. Then about 
three inches of loose dirt was scattered over this packed 
soil, and the tree left. 

This plan was so successful that in the spring, of 1901 
we were obliged to reset only seventeen trees, less than 
two per cent, the trees all having made a very fair growth 
the first year. The expense of caring fof these trees in 
1900 outside of the trimming, but including all other work 
and cultivation, amounted to $22.00, or about $2.25 an 
acre. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 209 

CARE OF SURFACE 

The plan of operation was immediately after setting 
the trees to double-disk the entire surface, because the 
hauling of the wagons and the tramping of the men over 
the moist soil while setting the trees resulted in packing 
the ground considerably. A two-horse disk was used for 
this work, which enabled us to get very close to the tree. 
As soon as a rain of any magnitude had fallen, the ground 
was gone over with the pulverizing harrow, crossing the 
work done with the disk. This harrow is a tool pretty 
generally known, and a most valuable instrument for this 
class of work. No weeds were allowed to grow. About 
two and a-half inches of the surface was kept constantly 
loose and fine by the use of the harrow until July, when a 
second double-disking was applied. The object of this 
occasional disking was to cut deeper to prevent even the 
slightest degree of crusting beneath the mulch. Then the 
harrow was used, going at right angles each time with the 
previous cultivation until September 1st. 

LATE CULTIVATION 

Up to this time we had been inclined to follow the ideas 
of most orchard and tree men and horticulturists, which 
was to discontinue cultivation after August, the object 
being to check the growth of the tree and allow the new 
wood to mature before freezing time. This idea presum- 
ably is correct in the more humid portions of our country. 
But in the semi-arid section we are inclined to discredit 
this theory in its full extent, especially where the rainfall 
is below fifteen inches. We believe the cultivation should 
be continued, but less frequent. We must not lose too 
much of the moisture from around the main roots and 
their branches, if we would carry our trees safely through 



210 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



the winter. This question is a nice one and must be 
treated with care. It is proper to reduce the sap in the 
body and limbs shghtly, but there is danger in going into 
the winter with soil too dry about the roots. Much atten- 



-. •> ,-• 









V- -.\ 




Peach tree, Pomeroy farm, 17 months after setting. 



Campbell's soil culture manual . 211 

tion has been given to this point by most of our agricultu- 
ral colleges the past four or five years. 

From Bulletin No. 52, issued by the University of 
Illinois in 1898; we take the following. We quote it espec- 
ially because it corresponds to our own experience and is 
the result of several years of observation: 

'^ Throughout large sections of Illinois may be found the 
rotting remnants of once extensive orchards, representing 
large original expenditures of both labor and money. The 
frequency with which such localities are met would almost 
seem to justify the statement usually heard in the neigh- 
borhood where such worn out orchards are found that 
the soil is not fitted for the growing of fruit. On the other 
hand; the enormous apple and other fruit production in 
other parts of the state; and frequently in localities not far 
distant from those mentioned, makes it evident that the 
reason so often assigned cannot be the correct one. 

CAUSES OF failure. 

''On examination and inquiry it will be found to be 
almost invariably the case that the true cause for the 
failure or the dying out of an orchard is the lack of profi- 
cient, or the entire absence of proper cultivation and care. 
-While the Illinois agriculturist has been devoting his time 
and attention to the care of his field and garden crop, it 
is too often the case that the orchard has been left to care 
for itself, with the above m.entioned result. The com- 
monest cause of failure in orchards in Illinois may be 
traced direct to the ill effects of summer drouths, though 
perhaps it is more commonly referred to as freezing in 
winter. The connection really existing between these two 
destructive agencies has not been often recognized. The 
fact that certain varieties of apples usually accounted 



212 Campbell's soil culture manual 

hardy even to our most northern limits, and in exposed 
situations sometimes fail after a winter not noted for 
severity, has at different times attracted attention, but 
the significance of such failures does not seem to have been 
duly appreciated. On consulting the records it is found 
that orchard injuries and exceptionally severe winters do 
not coincide. The autumnal conditions of the trees clearly 
has to do with the results, and this again depends upon 
the developments of the growing trees. One of the worst 
things that can happen to trees is the failure of a sufficient 
supply of soil moisture. A continuous supply of water 
is essential to all the vital processes of vegetation. Apple 
trees severely suffer when not so supplied." 

The bulletin continues at considerable length along this 
line, and then presents two very striking cuts on pages 
126 and 127, one showing the orchard upon the college 
farm with trees hanging full of fruit, the other of an ad- 
joining farm with neglected trees uncultivated, bare of 
fruit and almost minus of foliage, and the bulletin concludes 
by referring to the cuts in the following m.anner: 

''The photographs were taken in September, 1897. The 
tree in the foreground of the college orchard, with its 
wealth of foliage and bending under the weight of its load 
of fruit, tells its own story, and stands forth in marked 
contrast to the preceding picture, which is bare of fruit 
and almost minus of foliage. From the contrast there can 
be but one conclusion drawn, that while other things have 
greater or less effect upon an orchard's health and condi- 
tion, the prime requisite to successful orcharding in Illi- 
nois is thorough and systematic cultivation." 

While the principles involved in the Illinois bulletin 
are important and valuable in that state, they are vital 
with us in the semi-arid section. The prevailing idea. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 213 

and the idea usually drawn from most of our articles, is 
that the work is too expensive to make orchard growing 
profitable in the more arid portions of this country. This 
is quite an error, fully demonstrated by the figures given 
of our own work in the orchard of the Pomeroy model 
farm in 1900. 

EXPERIENCE IN KANSAS. 

In this chapter is shown an illustration of a peach tree 
grown on the Pomeroy model farm in Kansas, from a 
photograph taken in the fall after the first season's growth. 
The tree had then been in the ground five months. The 
trees in this orchard were all cut back to about three feet 
when they were set, and all limbs cut back so as to leave 
but two buds to the limb. The second season's growth 
is shown in the illustration where a growth of seventeen 
months indicates a remarkable result. This photograph 
was taken August 23, 1901. The contrast in growth as 
shown in these two illustrations- ought to be sufficient 
proof of what can be done in trees growing where the 
preparation of the soil has been right. It shows that 
without irrigation orchards may be grown in the most 
arid portions of the states of Colorado, Kansas and Ne- 
braska. The body of the tree shown as of first season's 
growth, measured a little over an inch in diameter, while 
the body of the tree after 17 months' growth measured 
two and one-half inches in diameter. As the man standing 
by the tree measured six feet three inches, to the top^of 
his hat, the reader may get some idea of the remarkable 
growth of these trees. There is no reason why they should 
not have made this remarkable growth, for, although we 
experienced a continuous dry period, with the excessive 
heat of one hundred degrees and above for forty-three 
days, from June 18 to August 1, entirely without rain; 



214 Campbell's soil culture manual 

yet" during that entire time the ground was amply moist 
to make into balls about the roots of the trees, and to a 
depth of over ten feet. During this entire time, owing to 
the manner of cultivation and the care taken to save this 
moisture, this soil was practically as full of moisture about 
the roots of the trees as it could hold, and had there been 
previous irrigation from a ditch the soil could not have 
been more moist. 

SHADE TREE RESULTS 

The illustration of a white elm tree on the Pomeroy 
model farm seventeen months after setting again shows 
what can be done on ground properly prepared and with 
right treatment of the surface of the soil. Looking closely 
you can see the man's hand about four feet from the 
ground, grasping the pole which is ten feet high." At this 
point where the hand shows, the tree was cut off when set 
in the spring of 1900. The growth during 1900 was not 
much, though quite as much as- might be expected the 
fierst year, the new limbs averaging about ten inches. This 
photograph was taken August 23, 1901, when the tree 
reached within eight inches of the top of the ten-foot pole. 
Elms are usually considered slow growth. This illustra- 
tion is certainly a demonstration of two facts, that they 
will make remarkable growth with plenty of moisture, and 
that moisture can be stored in sufficient quantities on the 
far western prairies to supply all necessary needs of such 
trees. 

In the setting of trees or orchards in the more arid 
portions of this belt, care should be taken to not get them 
too close together. A successful growing of a tree depends 
upon ample pasturage of the roots. In our orchard at 
the Model farm we set our cherries and peach trees twenty- 
two feet each way, and our apples twenty-two by thirty- 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



215 



two feet. No crop of any kind or nature should be grown 
in an orchard if you would secure the best results. It may 
seem like a waste of ground to see little two-year-old 
trees standing two and a-half to three feet high with tops 
only one foot to eighteen inches broad, twenty-two feet 




White Elm tree, Pomeroy farm, 17 months after planting. 



216 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

apart each way; but when we note the immense growth of 
our trees the second year we see it is not long before the 
entire space is utiUzed. Back of the house where we Hved 
in Holdrege, Nebraska, is a cherry tree that now measures 
seventeen and a-half feet across from tip to tip of hmbs. 
You can readily see that in the twenty-two-foot distances 
we only have four and a-half feet left. Now, if vou expect 
the trees to make this growth, you must not interfere with 
the roots of the tree, or in any way rob it of any of the 
moisture or plant food in the soil. Besides, to plant a crop 
of any kind would make the cultivation much more incon- 
venient and expensive. A trip back to the old Eastern 
States, even in Illinois, and then on through Ohio and New 
York State, will disclose a radical change in methods of 
handling orchards. The most profitable orchards in those 
states, today, have no crops or grass growing in them; 
while twenty years ago it was a "common practice to seed 
them down to grasses. If that kind of treatment is desir- 
able and profitable in the east where the rainfall is more 
than abundant; it is much more desirable in the west. 

We can now cite many instances of successful tree and 
orchard growing in western Kansas and Nebraska and 
eastern Colorado, but space will not permit. For further 
evidence of the importance of frequent cultivation of 
trees read the chapter on soil culture, and for more em- 
phatic evidence of the marvelous growth that can be at- 
tained by proper cultivation of both fruit and forest trees, 
visit the Pomeroy model farm in midsummer and behold 
the lofty and beautiful shade trees growing there. 

The truth is that all over the semi-arid region in the 
past five to ten years there has been wonderful develop- 
ment in the growing of trees and the care of orchards and 
groves. Everywhere the fact is coming to be recognized 



Campbell's soil culture manual 217 

that tree growing is just like the growing of other things, 
that it all depends on the care and preparation of the 
soil and intelligent application of the principles of scien- 
tific soil culture. The present error is the inclination to 
be satisfied with a fair ordinary growth. Don't do that. 
•Get all nature can give up to you. 



It is useless to apply commercial fertilizers to lands 
which are not in proper physical condition for the very 
best growth of crops. — Prof. L. H. Bailey, 



We find by the Campbell system that we can as well 
keep moisture in the ground as to put it in a jug and put 
in the cork. — J. B. Beal, Chief Land Examiner Union Pacific 
Railroad. 



Nitrogen Supply. — Considering all these facts and the 
additional facts that there are about seventy-five million 
pounds of atmospheric nitrogen resting upon every acre of 
land, and that it is impossible to obtain unlimited quanti- 
ties of nitrogen from the air for the use of farm crops, and 
at very small cost, the inevitable conclusion is that the in- 
exhaustible supply of nitrogen in the air is the store from 
which we must draw to maintain a sufficient amount of 
this element in the soil for the most profitable crop yields. 
^Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins. 



218 



Campbell's soil culture manuax 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



SUGAR BEET GROWING. 

All honor to those who have been doing much in recent 
years to develop in the semi-arid belt as well as elsewhere 
in the states the new industry of making sugar from beets. 
Nearly everyone is aware of the fact that there is now 
manufactured in this country a great deal of sugar from 
beets; but few realize the enormous quantities of sugar 
made each and every year west of the Mississippi *river. 
The consumption of sugar is increasing rapidly, and the 




Thinning Sugar Beets. 



CAMPBELL^S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 219 

demand is almost keepmg pace with the supply, so that 
the possibilities of the business are infinite. Sugar fac- 
tories are dotting the states of the west. Many more are 
coming. And it is no longer true that the sugar beet 
factory must be supplied from roots grown near by, for it 
is found profitable to ship long distances to factories. 

The possibilities of beet sugar production in the west 
are beyond estimate, and not only by irrigation but with- 




40 acre Sugar Beet field at Holly, Colorado. 

out irrigation many fields are being developed. In this 
article is an illustration of a field of sugar beets grown at 
Lisbon, N. D., on the grounds of the soldier^s home by Col. 
Mcllvaine, in 1897, the second year's experiment on the 
same ground. It was grown under the Campbell method 
of soil culture and the yield showed the phenomenal re- 
turns of 46,000 pounds, or 23 tons, per acre. The illus- 



220 Campbell's soil culture manual 

tration shows ~ the wonderful growth. Aside from the 
value which can be got from the beets for sugar there is 
also the great value to be got from the feeding of the pulp. 
Experiments thus far show that this value is considerable, 
and later experiments may add much to our knowledge of 
how to utilize it. At any rate it is certain that sugar beet 
growing will be one of the great industries of the semi- 
arid west for the next century, 

SUGAR BEET CULTURE UNDER IRRIGATION. 

The following is a conicse statement of the best methods 
used in the successful raising of sugar beets under irrigation. 

Soil — Always select your best land. Avoid using poor 
land for growing beets. Also new ground should not be 
selected as a good tonnage is rare under these conditions. 
The ground should have been at least two years under 
cultivation and if possible manured to som^e extent in the 
fall. Stable manure is highly recommended as it will very 
materially increase the tonnage. Never plant seed on 
land that is sandy enough to blow. 

Plowing — As the sugar beet plant derives its life from the 
soil; deep plowing is urged as it'gives the root plenty of room 
to grow down and absorb nutriment. If possible in all cases 
the plowing should be done in the fall and the land allowed 
to remain rough all winter, airing the land thoroughly and 
letting in the moisture. It also permits the land to slowly 
settle and pack which will insure better germination. 

Levelling — To facilitate the thorough irrigation of a 
field, it is essential that the ground should be levelled as 
well as possible so as to leave no low spots where water will 
stand. To obtain the best and quickest results, it is well 
to use a harrow and loosen the top soil, after which a floater 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



221 



may be used to drag the soil from the high knowls into the 
hollows. 

Seed Bed — Probably the most important thing neces- 
sary to be done to insure a good beet crop, is the prepar- 
ation of the seed bed. After the land has been plowed and 
eveled as explained above, the seed bed may be made by 




A MODERN FACTORY. 

Factory for making Beet Sugar at Holly, Col. Completed in 1905, 

most modern construction. Owned by the Holly 

Sugar Company. 



working the soil down to a depth of four or five inches and 
then packing it well with the use of a heavy roller, thus in- 
suring the capillary attraction for the moisture which will 
germinate the seed. Be sure that all the weeds are killed 
before planting the beet seed, otherwise, unnecessary ex- 



222 Campbell's soil culture manual 

pense will be entailed aside from the danger to the crop. 
The seed bed should only be made when the land is moist 
and in order that the land may not dry before seeding, no 
more land should be prepared than can be seeded each clay. 

Seeding — In order to secure a good yield, a good stand 
is necessary. To do this not less than twenty pounds of 
seed to the acre should be planted. The time of planting 
varies a little with the season, but April and May are the 
usual planting months. Beet drills built expressly for the 
irrigated country may be secured to do this seeding. 

Cultivation — Cultivation answers two very important 
purposes, the loosening of the crust after irrigation or rain, 
and the preservation of the moisture in the ground. Special 
one horse cultivators are used for cultivating beet fields. 
A field should always be cultivated as soon after an irri- 
gation or rain as possible in order to break the crust which 
has formed and allow the plant to grow and breathe, and 
at the same time it serves to kill the young weeds as they 
come up between the rows. 

Thinning — Thinning of the beets takes place usually 
about four weeks after seeding, when the young plant 
shows four well developed leaves above the ground. In 
thinning great care should be exercised in the proper 
spacing and also the selection of the hardiest plant to be 
left in the ground; also to see that the plants that are left 
are disturbed as little as possible. Thinning done at the 
right time means a great deal towards securing a heavy 
tonnage and sweet beets. 

Hoeing — In case the ground is very foul part of the 
field, if not all, may have to be hoed before cultivation 
takes place. This hoeing should be done carefully so as 
not to disturb the young beet plant. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



223 



Irrigation — It is tnuch better for beet land if it can be 
irrigated in winter before seeding takes place. Irrigation 
should be delayed as long as possible after thinning, and 




Sugar beets, 23 tons per acre, by Campbell method. 

flooding at all times should be avoided. The best way to 
irrigate is to run the water down the furrows between the 
beets which irrigates the roots without touching the leaves 
of the plant, as when the plant is young it is detrimental to 
have the leaves wet with irrigation. 

Harvesting — Whenever the beets are ripe, which is 



224 Campbell's soil culture manual 

determined by analysis by the factories, the beets are 
plowed up with special plows, topped with a large corn 
knife at the base of the bottom leaf and delivered by wagon 
or train to the factory. 

Siloing — As all the beets cannot be delivered to the 
factory before heavy freezing weather sets in, it is necessary 
to place the undelivered beets, after being harvested, into 
siloes. The siloing of beets is done by placing leaves and 
dirt over the beets, 'leaving a small hole at the top to pre- 
vent the beets from sweating. Usually not more than two 
to three tons of beets are placed in one silo. Great care 
should be exercised to see that not too much dirt is placed 
over the beets until the weather has turned exceedingly 
cold. 

SUGER BEET CULTURE WITHOUT IRRIGATION. 

The growing of sugar beets in the semi-arid section 
without irrigation can be conducted by following prac- 
tically the same instructions embodied under the heading 
ofc 'Beet Culture by Irrigation,'' except instead of irrigating, 
giv'e a season to summer culture, storing carefully the 
season's rain-fall, following carefully the general instruction 
under summer culture. Plowing, however should be 
eight or nine inches deep, follow with the packer well 
weighted, then work the surface with the common harrow 
aiming to reach the condition shown in Cut No. 4. Balance 
of the work should be practically along the same lines as 
suggested under irrigation. 

In cultivating such fields great care should be given, 
not only to cultivate soon after rains, but watch the surface 
of the hard soil under the mulch and just as soon as it 
shows dryness it should be cultivated again to prevent a 
crust from forming under the mulch, which it is liable to 



Campbell's soil culture manual 225 

do in prolonged dry periods. Some very marked results 
have been accomplished by this method, while the tonnage 
is not quite equal to that from scientific irrigation, yet the 
yields of sugar is much better. The growing of sugar 
beets without irrigation in sections where the sugar beets 
can be easily marketed, will, in the near future, be very 
commonly practised. 



The Pomeroy farm certainly proves the truth of Mr, 
Campbell's theories, or else he is a wizard. — Wm. E. Curtis. 



Your great work in soil culture is thoroughly appreciated 
by every thinking citizen of Nebraska. — The late J. Sterling 
Morton. 



The Campbell system is a glorious success. It is not a 
mere wet season humbug, destined to collapse with the 
next series of dry years. I have doubted, watched, investi- 
gated constantly for nine months, and have become con- 
vinced that it is the greatest agricultural discovery of re- 
cent history.— John E. Leet; in Denver Republican. 



226 Campbell's soil culiure makua; 



CHAPTER XXV. 



ALFALFA. 

In 1895 alfalfa was little known in the United States 
except in remote localities. A few had begun to realize 
something of its value not only as a great hay or forage 
producing plant, but as a fodder of unusual feeding value. 
Not until 1900 did our people begin to grasp the real value 
of the plant which was never well established until care- 
ful experiments were made by the State Agricultural 
Experimental Stations in a large variety of feeding tests. 

In no case was any other hay or fodders found to be 
its equal except for working horses. Its producing powers 
are far in excess of all other hay when conditions are 
right. 

In its early culture and growth it was considered to be 
a low land or water plant. Little by little, however, it 
has gone into the prairies until today there are many fields 
of ten, twenty, fifty and a hundred acres on the high di- 
vide in the more arid sections; in some instances two and 
three hundred feet above sheet water. In Kimball county, 
Nebraska, twenty four miles from the Wyoming line, is 
ten acre field now five years old, 312 feet from sheet water 
with an average rainfall of 14 inches. This field has cut 
from one to two and a-half tons of No. 1 hay each year. 
It is disked once and harrowed twice during each season. 

This is only one out of many similar cases, showing 
conclusively that with careful fitting and good care alfalfa 
is a most desirable plant. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 227 

Alfalfa, like all other crops, thrives best under the most 
favorable conditions. There is probably no point in the 
raising of alfalfa more important than that of securing a 
good stand. It seems almost impossible, in fact, climatic 
conditions must be very favorable, in order to get a catch 
of seed inreseeding spots among well rooted plants. There 
is no seed that responds, or returns greater rewards for a 
good seed bed than alfalfa, and yet it is a very simple 
proposition, and if the proper course is pursued and good 
seed used, there is practically no question about securing 
a good stand. The summer culture plan, by which one 
season's rain is stored in the ground, and the soil carefully 
prepared as outlined in the chapter under this heading, then 
sowing the seed the following spring, taking care to loosen 
the surface soil the first opening of spring is best. The best 
results we have ever seen in western Kansas have come 
from seeding early in April on ground thus prepared, with 
ten pounds of seed put in with a shoe drill with a chain 
cover. 

PLAN OF SEEDING. 

The next best plan is thorough culture from early 
spring to July, together with careful preparation, then 
seed in July with ten pounds of seed with drill or twenty 
pounds if broadcast. At the time of seeding the above 
field there were about two inches of looge, fine soil on the 
surface made by the use of a common harrow, and the 
shoe set so as to put the seed from one-half to one inch 
into the solid, fine moist soil beneath. The seed came up 
quickly and very even, and if there was any complaint to 
be made it was the fact that it was too thick. With the 
prevailing price of alfalfa seed the saving of a few pounds 
of seed is a great item, especially in putting in large fields. 
The further fact that when once sowed and the crop estab- 



228 cambpell's soil culture manual 

lished, it is there for years to come, certainly is sufficient 
argument to support the demand for thorough and careful 
preparation of the seed bed. 

The summer culture idea involving this storage of one 
yearns rainfall puts the soil in such condition for five or 
six feet down that the tap root immediately pushes on 
down through this moist soil sending out the little feeders 
on their way down, and the chances are that a good crop 
may be harvested the first year, as was true in the case 
above referred to, due only to the fact that the soil condi- 
tions were perfect for the rapid development of roots, and 
ample moisture to produce this magnificent growth. While 
it is true that much better results are attained from alfalfa 
in valleys where sheet water is eight to twelve feet from 
the surface, yet a sufficient number of experiments have 
been made and in some of them a sufficient length of time 
has elapsed, to warrant the statement that on the majority 
of our high divides in the semi-arid belt as good or better 
yields can be secured from this crop than are commonly 
harvested in the eastern states on the average meadows 
of timothy and clover. The value of lands where the 
phenomenal crops or yields of alfalfa along some of the 
valleys in western Nebraska and Kansas has hardly 
come to be understood, or fully appreciated even 
by the people who have raised them. We are familiar 
with fields that for three successive years have turned off 
in alfalfa hay alone from $30 to $40 per acre, and where 
hay and a crop of seed has been harvested as high as $80 
per acre has been made. The value of this plant for feed- 
ing hogs, cattle, and sheep is just beginning to be appre- 
ciated. All experiments thus far, carefully conducted have 
demonstrated that there is no fodder plant so valuable. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 229 

preparing the fields. 

The preparing of fields for seeding to alfalfa on old 
ground cannot be better explained than in the in- 
structions under the heading of Summer Culture for spring 
wheat to which we refer you. As stated above, alfalfa 
responds quickly and liberally to favorable conditions 
not only with reference to ample moisture, but the more 
available fertility the stronger is your plant and the more 
sure are you of an even stand. 

Under no conditions can a man afford to slight the 
fitting. A common remark is, '^I haven't the time." Stop 
a moment and fairly and honestly consider what this 
means. No one can tell what this season or the next 
will be, therefore don't forget this one fact, that if you 
do not do such necessary work as will guarantee a. per- 
fectly healthy stand under any and all conditions, you 
are liable to get such dry and otherwise unfavorable 
conditions as to cause a complete failure. Have you 
gained anything by .slighting the preparatory work if 
you lose all your crop? All your time and seed counts 
for nothing, you are a year behind, and no alfalfa for the 
hogs after all. 

Let us look on the other side — begin in the early spring 
and follow closely and carefully the rules for summer tilling 
and put in your seed either in August or early the following 
spring. The latter we prefer, especially in sections where 
summer and autumn rains are common, the principal reason 
is that we are less liable to get a heavy packing rain after 
seeding it and before it comes up, which is very serious. 

We have seen fields absolutely ruined by the heavy 
rain followed by hot sun just before the seed comes up. 
In sections where the heavy rains are common in spring, 
and less liable or very rare in midsummer and earl}^ au- 



230 

tumn, as is true generally on the Pacific slope, then by all 
means seed in August. 

If the early spring is unusually dry, then plan to seed 
in the spring. Remember this fact that planting in sum- 
mer tilled soils properly handled the germination is quick- 
est, and early growth is most rapid when it is clear sunny 
weather and no rain. With the more common methods 
of fitting without sub-packing, a good rain is necessary to 
even start the crop. 

The difference between the more common methods of 
fitting and- thorough scientific fitting is as broad as the 
contrast between a safe business proposition and that of 
gambling on chance games. 

SEEDING ON NEW BREAKING. 

Alfalfa, like many other crops, may be sown on new 
breaking the same season the breaking is done and some- 
times gives satisfactory results, but" considering its uncer- 
tainty and the difference in the value of a good crop as 
against a poor crop and possibly none at all, we are inclined 
to give over the whole season to preparation, for then a 
good crop is practically assured. 

The proper time to break depends somewhat on locality 
and the time the heavy rains are expected. As a rule 
east of the Rocky mountains late fall or early spring 
breaking is followed with best results. For detailed in- 
structions on fitting, note general matter under the head 
of plowing. Briefly, the breaking for alfalfa should be 
about three and one-half inches deep, using every possible 
means and care to lay the furrow slice flat and roll down 
solid either with the sub-packer or smooth roller, then 
disk, but do not set the disk at a sufficient angle to cut 
through the sod, let the disk lap half, then follow with the. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 231 

steel lever harrow slightly slanted going both with the 
disk and lever harrow same direction as the team traveled 
in breaking. If care is taken in plowing, then in rolling, 
then in disking, you will have about two inches of loose 
soil. Harrow thoroughly after each rain. If this is fully 
accomplished the sod will not only be fully rotted in a 
very short time, but the top of the sub-soil beneath will also 
become rotted to a depth of two or three inches. As soon as 
this is found to be true, then begin back setting or plowing 
with the stubble plow, cutting about two and one-half 
inches deeper; follow the plow with the packer as explained 
under the head of Plowing and Sub-Packing, then follow 
with the harrow, any good harrow, getting it all fine 
and firm before it has time to dry out. Look well to the 
storage of later rains and be ready to loosen the surface in 
early spring with the harrow and put in your seed fairly 
early, governed largely by the locality, using not over ten 
pounds of good seed with a shoe drill and chain cover. 
If your work is all well done, as outlined, you need 
have no fears of the result. 



232 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



SEEKING NEW ARID PLANTS. 

The Department ,of Agriculture, which is expending 
millions each year for the benefit of agriculture, has thus 
far, in taking up a study of the problem of the arid and 
semi-arid regions, confined itself to two things, namely, 
irrigation and the seeking of new plants. 

All honor to those who have so well directed the ex- 
penditure of money to make irrigation farming possible 
in rich valleys that were lying fallow! 

And to those who have earnestly sought new plants 
that will be of value in dry regions, may they be successful 
far beyond their fondest dreams ! 

But it will not do to place great dependence on the 
finding of plants that will grow in the deserts without 
application of special methods of cultivation. Indeed, Prof. 
Hansen, the agent of the United States government, who 
has been specially engaged in this work a number of years, 
has warned against over-confidence in this regard. 

^'We are going to extend the alfalfa belt as far north 
as we can,^' said Prof. Hansen on his return from Asia 
in the autumn of 1906, '^and we hope that these seeds 
will prove all that we expect of them. But there is no 
use in expecting too much. I would not risk my reputa- 
tion on any positive predictions; I can only say that we 
confidently hope that we have found the right thing." 

Prof. Hansen was referring especially to the seed of 
alfalfa and clover which he sent back from northern Asia 



Campbell's soil culture manual 233 

It appears that the effort has been found rather to find a 
quick growing plant adapted to extreme northern sum- 
mers, than one which will defy drouth. Prof. Hansen 
sent back from Asia the seeds of three kinds of alfalfa, 
two found far north and growing where there was little 
rain, and the other growing in the woods. He also brought 
back seeds of several kinds of clover native in northern 
Siberia where it is very cold, with short summers and 
little rain. All these will be tried out in the Dakotas and 
in a few years seed will be distributed to farmers. Another 
thing brought back is a coarse potato suitable only for 
stock food, which is said to grow in a dry northern cli- 
mate. A visit was made also to the high table land in 
central Asia, where, it is stated, alfalfa has been grown for 
centuries under conditions very similar to those found in 
the semi-arid region of America. 

It does not appear, from anything that has as yet been 
published, that any special information has been secured 
as to the character of the soil or the methods of cultiva- 
tion which have prevailed in these regions of the old world 
where conditions are exceptional. 

From what Prof. Hansen has said it may be fairly 
inferred that he realizes fully that drouth resistance is 
something that does not inhere alone in plants, but there 
are other things to be considered. 

The fact is that great good can and will be accom- 
plished by the importation of new plants adapted to 
growth in unusual climates, but this must and will be, 
by and through cultivation of these plants in connection 
with systems of soil culture adapted to the regions. Suc- 
cess in adapting Asiatic drouth-resisting plants and grasses 
will be attained only by making use of scientific soil cul- 
ture. Putting the two together .will be vastly beneficial. 



234 Campbell's soil culture manual t 

But the quest for plants that will grow right out upon 
the western and northern prairies and make good crops 
under conditions of cultivation used in the humid regions 
or with little or no care, is destined to be a dead failure. 
The owners of land in this region must understand now, 
as they will some time, that there are no plants anywhere 
in the world that will make good crops in dry regions 
without the most careful preparation of the soil. 

Intelligent farmers everywhere will give all possible 
encouragement to the effort to introduce new and valuable 
plants, and they will do well to make a study of these 
plants in relation to the very best systems of cultiva- 
tion. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 235 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



IRRIGATION. 

. There is no conflict or antagonism between scientific 
soil culture and irrigation. There is nothing in our teach- 
ings that need be taken as in any sense hostile to the great 
development of irrigation projects in the west. Neither 
is the solution of the problem of the semi-arid region to be 
found in the adoption of irrigation. 

Irrigation farming is being carried on in many of the 
splendid valleys of the west with great success. The irri- 
gated area is sure to be rapidly and greatly enlarged, and 
no man can tell what results are possible. The United 
States government, under authority of congress, has en- 
couraged this by special laws under which irrigation dis- 
tricts are created and favors given to large companies, and 
by direct appropriation for construction of gigantic dams 
and reservoirs. That this is money well spent will not 
be disputed by persons familiar with what is being accom- 
plished. 

But it is true that the area which may be brought under 
cultivation with irrigation is limited, as compared with the 
vaster areas where ditches are not possible. It is also 
true that at best irrigation farming is expensive and it 
necessitates special farming and intensive work in order 
that it will pay. Under such circumstances the farmers 
must get immense returns for their labor. 

Scientific soil culture and irrigation therefore supple- 
ment each other. There are millions of acres of the most 



236 Campbell's soil culture manual 

fertile lands, level and easy of cultivation, near to the 
irrigation districts but which cannot be irrigated without 
unwarranted expense, which receive ample rainfall to pro- 
duce fine and profitable crops if the water is properly 
stored and utilized. These lands will remain useless un- 
less scientific soil culture is adopted. 

Then there are millions of other acres of land in the 
same region, which are now used for farming in some way, 
where there is sufficient rainfall to make irrigation im- 
practicable, but where the present yield of crops under the 
old system is not to exceed one-third what it might be if 
the general principles of our system were fully understood 
and practiced. 

But the value of this system will be still more shown 
on the millions of acres of irrigated land where best results 
are not obtained. On these areas irrigation is possible, 
but the quantity of water is limited, and there can never 
be enough to carry on irrigation farming by the wasteful 
methods so common. Scientific soil culture comes in to 
greatly enlarge the area of irrigable lands by showing how 
good results can be obtained by much less water. 

The fundamental principle upon which the success of 
this system is based is that of economical use of water, 
it matters not whence it cometh, whether direct from the 
clouds or from the flowing streams, ditches, reservoirs, or 
wells. The first and important thing to do is to get a 
supply of water stored in the soil to feed, nourish and 
mature the crop in a period of dry weather; and the second 
and almost equally important requisite is the ideal seed 
and root bed, so vital in the success of our system, all of 
which is necessary in growing crops by artificial applica- 
tion of water required in irrigation. 

Of course if the farmer has water to waste, whether 



Campbell's soil culture manual 237 

from ditches or clouds, he can be wasteful and still pros- 
per. We do not wish to be understood as saying that a 
farmer may not get a better crop with plenty of water to 
turn loose at will upon a piece of ground poorly fitted 
than he could with the same reckless fitting and be obliged 
to depend upon replenishing his soil with moisture from 
the heavens. But that is not the question today with 
the progressive farmer. 

How can we get the greatest results from our soil, the 
labor and expense being considered? That is the question 
of today, whether in irrigation districts or elsewhere. And 
in fact, nowhere is it more essential to guard against waste 
than in applying irrigation. The expensive thing is water. 
Seldom is there as much water as there is land. The irri- 
gation area is limited by the quantity of available water. 
By following methods that will reduce the amount of water 
needed per acre, the number of acres that may be supplied 
from a given ditch or reservoir can be increased. 

The ideal condition for the most healthful and success- 
ful growth of all cultivated crops is a good depth of root 
bed made thoroughly fine and firm. There is little danger 
in getting the average sand loam soils, so common in the 
arid and semi-arid sections, too firm, while some of our 
heavy clay soils if not properly handled might become too 
closely compacted, but this kind of soil is not at all com- 
mon. Previous to the thorough fitting of the seed and root 
bed see to it that ample moisture is stored below where 
nature can do her part by bringing it up to the roots of the 
growing plants by capillary attraction, then keep your sur- 
face always cultivated in such manner as to provide as near 
as possible a fine, loose mulch of soil (not dust), stirring it 
often enough to keep the moisture up to the top of the firm 
soil just beneath the mulch. The moment the top of this 



238 Campbell's soil culture manual 

firm soil becomes in the least dry there is immediately a 
process of depositing of salts and other matter between these 
particles of soil closing the pores and consequently dimin- 
ishing the quantity of air that should freely pass through 
this soil to the roots. This condition not only points to 
the fact that you are allowing the air to be shut out but that 
you are losing moisture by evaporation from the soil which 
may be checked by cultivation. In fact, there should be 
no dry soil above your moisture except what is loose and 
fine. 

Sub-irrigation is being practiced with marvelous re- 
sults in some instances. This demonstrates clearly that if 
the irrigator will watch his opportunity and will turn on 
his surplus water in the fall after his crop has been removed 
or during the winter or early spring, with the water stored 
in the soil below and care in conserving the moisture by 
proper cultivation, fine crops can be grown with very little 
^fter irrigation. 

Very large crops of winter wheat should be grown on 
the average soils in Colorado and sections under similar 
conditions if special effort was carefully put forth to irri- 
gate thoroughly, immediately after the crop is harvested, 
then double disk as soon as the surface is sufficiently dry 
to do the work without sticking. Plowing later using great 
care to pack the plowed portions and harrow the surface 
while moist, seeding sufficiently early for a good fall growth, 
then harrow early in the spring, then with one irrigation 
after the foliage fully covers the surface, sixty bushels per 
acre should be common under such conditions. In all crop- 
growing under irrigation, much consideration should be 
given to the chapters under the following headings: 'Phys- 
ical conditon of the soil," ''air and its importance in the 
.soil" and the "water holding capacity of the soil/' 



CAMPBELL^S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 2'6\) 

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE SOIL. 

The one vital question that the irrigator must consider 
no matter how much water he may have available is the 
physical condition of the soil. Plants do not thrive on water 
alone. A combination of the properties of air and water 
together with heat and light are the resourceful elements 
which we have, and miuc be utilized in proper proportions 
combined in the soil under proper conditions or we cannot 
secure the large yields. It is folly for a man to own a tract 
of land and in addition thereto to own a water-right, and 
then to use them without securing to exceed one-half or 
one-third of the best yield of that field; if he himself will 
only do his part intelligently. The part which he must 
play is that of preparing the soil, securing that ideal con- 
dition which is illustrated in several of the previous chap- 
ters by cuts. Following this is that all important part of 
keeping the surface of the soil in condition to admit the air, 
the importance of which is fully detailed under the head of 
^'Air in the Soil.'' At no time should the moisture that is 
forced into the soil from the ditches by gravity be allowed 
to return in any quantities to the surface and evaporate. 

It' is through this upward movement of moisture by 
capillary attraction that many of our fields which are under- 
laid with a large per cent of alkali are ruined, this alkali 
when in a soluble or dissolved condition rises to the sur- 
face with the moisture in its upward movement by capillary 
attraction, and as the moisture leaves in a vapor, the solid 
alkali is left on the surface. 

Too much water is almost invariably applied to irri- 
gating fields simply because we have been led to place all 
faith in water and water only as the producing power. From 
all our observations in irrigation, the reading of bulletins 
and correspondence with people who have had yearr 



240 

of experience in California, Colorado, and many other sec- 
tions, it is our candid opinion that the average irrigator 
east of the rockies would produce better results with one- 
quarter of water he has commonly used, together with the 
scientific principles of soil culture as laid down under the 
various ch«^^<^rs in this book. (See Sugar Beets by Irri- 
gation.) 



Campbell's soil culture manual 241 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



ARBORICULTURE. 

Arbor Day is in fact a national day. The people of 
nearly all the states give recognition to the immense im- 
portance of tree planting by setting apart a day for this 
work. The late J. Sterling Morton, of Nebraska City, a 
pioneer of the trans-Missouri country, was the father of 
Arbor Day, and by his zeal and interest in it he forced 
recognition for the day everywhere. 

Mr. Morton was for more than forty years a resident 
of Nebraska. At his home. Arbor Lodge, as he called it, 
is one of the finest groves of trees in all the country. Shortly 
before his death he wrote expressly for the 1902 Soil Cul- 
ture Manual the letter which follows, and what he then 
wrote has such permanent value that it is here repeated. 
He had become deeply interested in the work being done 
for study of the soil .and for agriculture in the semi-^nd 
b^lc. He wrote: 

Mr. H. W. Campbell: 

Dear Sir — After an experience of more than forty 
years at Arbor Lodge, adjoining Nebraska City, in the 
County of Otoe, I declare that the best method of plant- 
ing forest trees is in rows running north and south. The 
first row on the east should be of a rapidly growing variety, 
hke catalpa speciosa, cottonwood, aspen, or soft maple. 
The next row should be a nut-bearing tree, like the black 
walnut, butternut, or coffee bean. The next succeeding 
row on the west should be, like the first one, of a rapidly 



242 Campbell's soil culture manual 




THE LATE J. STERLING MORTON. 
Nebraska Pioneer, Father of Arbor Day, Secretary of Agriculture. 

growing variety. Planted in this way, the swiftly grow- 
ing trees act as nurses for the slowly growing trees. Planted 
thus, black walnut, instead of putting on a scrubby growth 
and looking like gigantic quince trees when they have 
reached twenty years of age, run up towards the sun for 



Campbell's soil culture manual "J43 

light and make good trunks of twenty feet in length. This 
wood is valuable; and trees thus planted are grown with 
relative celerity. At Arbor Lodge I have between 100 and 
200 walnuts thus treated, which were put into the gronud 
in the autumn of 1865, and if you could see and measure 
them, it would be a work of supererogation for me to make 
further argument in favor of this system of planting. 

To grow either deciduous trees or any yariety of conifers 
on these plains with any degree of success, it is necessary 






's_^^^^^^^^, ' -' " :.i,'?>^^< 



?,jsm'' ■'■J-^?; 






A PRAIRIE PARK. 
Poriicii Gi Arbor Lodge, showing result of tree planting in Nebraska. 

to pls^nt them close together. All great forests, whence 
have come the best timber that man has ever used for 
building and cabinet woods, have been dense. The vast 
pineries of the Northwest were so closely planted by nature 
that it was impossible for a horseman to ride through many 



244 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



of them because of the interweaving branches. To suc- 
cessfully grow trees like those the forests produced, we 
must endeavor to create forestal conditions. 

In 1892 I planted 10,000 white pines, purchased of 
Robert Douglas' Sons at Waukegan, 111. They were two 
years old and averaged perhaps a foot to 14 inches in height. 
They were planted in rows 4 feet apart, and the trees were 




ARBOR LODGE. 
Home of the late J. Sterling Morton, at Nebraska City. 



4 feet from each other in the rows. They were cultivated 
as corn is cultivated, the furrows going first east and west 
and then north and south. They, have made a remarkably 
fine growth, both as to height and circumference. Many of 
them are from four to five inches in diameter and from 18 
to 20 feet in height. It is with difficulty that a man can 
walk among them, and last summer when the drought and 



CAMPBELL S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



±5 



tioi winds were doing their worst to smother and parch 
out vegetation in this section of the country, those pines 
showed no indication of distress. Going in among them 
and stooping down, and looking under their lower limbs, 
one could not see a single particle of vegetable growth aside 
from the trees. The ground was thoroughly mulched with 
the needles which had fallen from them, and blanketed the 




ARBOR LODGE TREES. 

Part of the evergreen grove set by the hands of the late J. Sterling 

Morton. 

earth, so to speak, with the mold which they had created. 
Removing this carpet of needles one could find moist, cool 
soil at all times. The conditions about the roots of these 
trees w^ere such as their ancestors found in the great pine- 
ries of , Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. 

^any varieties of trees have been condemned as unfit 
for cultivation in Nebraska, after trying them in isolated 



246 

positions, exposed to the hot sun and drying winds from 
the southwest. Trees are almost as gregarious as human 
beings. No man or woman could have been perfectly de- 
veloped, physically, and intellectually, in absolute solitude 
and without communication or intercourse with other hu- 
man beings. And just so, no single tree planted out on 
the hot prairie, exposed to the burning sun all day long, 
can make as perfect a specimen of its kind as can be grown 
where trees are clustered together. 

Arboriculture is absolutely indispensible to the conser- 
vation of other plant life, and even to the existence of ani- 
mal life on these planis. The independence of the lives 
of trees and the lives of human beings is constant. If a 
single summer should be passed without foliage, flower or 
fruit on the globe, all animal existence would cease. 

Your great work in soil culture is thoroughly appre- 
ciated by every thinking citizen of Nebraska. Your in- 
telligent efforts to benefit the agriculture and horticulture 
of this state are of greater value to your race and to those 
who come after you than all the efforts of all the members 
of congress who have ever represented , this commionwealth 
at Washington. It is a gratification to realize that soil 
culture and arboriculture are destined, without asking an 
appropriation from the general government, to revolu- 
tionize the climatic and productive conditions of the state 
of Nebraska. Just as plants need light and as potato 
sprouts in dark cellars seek the windows and doors where 
the sun's rays occasionally stream in, so all the people of 
the prairie states need the illuminating practicalities of 
your researches and experiments in soil cullture, which 
illustrate the method of insuring crops by intelligent tillage 
against destruction by drouths. 

J. Sterling Morton. 
Arbor Lodge, Jan. ISth, 1902. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 247 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



SOIL MULCH OR DUST BLANKET. 

As the interest develops in Scientific Soil Culture there 
are frequent instances where the innocent are misled in 
unintentional ways. Among the more common is the refer- 
ence to the name applied to the loose soil established by 
the cultivator or harrow over the tilled fields. It is very 
important that this question be fully understood, for much 
difficulty and trouble may be avoided thereby. 

DUST BLANKET. 

The name Dust Blanket is an old one and is today 
very commonly used, especially by the older writers, and 
as a rule is taken by the farmer to mean literally what it 
says, dust. The dust blanket in the older and more humid 
sections of the east where the name originated, was con- 
sidered by many to be necessary for the best protection 
of moisture. This, however, has been found to be an error 
in the more arid sections where the atmosphere is so much 
dryer. It also was found to be the wrong idea by Prof. 
King in his very elaborate experiments at th^ Wisconsin 
Experiment Station during the early nineties. In the fol- 
lowing, quoted .from his book, ''The Soil," on page 195, he 
refers to the comparative effectiveness of a mulch of coarse 
quartz sand that would pass a screen of 20 meshes to the 
inch, but was retained by one of 40 meshes as compared 
with pulverized air dried cla}^ of equal thickness. It was 
found that the evaporation from the soil with dust mulch 



248 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

prepared from pulverized clay was three and a half times 
as great as from the soil with the coarse sand mulch. 

The conclusions of Prof. King after these experiments 
have been fully corroborated by all of our observations, 
there is no result without a cause and a theory can never 
be accepted as a fact until the cause is fully understood. 

Under the head of capillary attraction we have learned 
that moistures moves very much faster through small pores 
in the soil than large ones, while it is true that soil abso- 




A. B. 

Cut No. 22. Soil Mulch and Dust Blanket before rain, (a) Soil 
Mulch; (b) Dust Blanket. 

lutely void of moisture is minus any capillary attraction 
yet, when the rays of the sun in a mid-July day pierces 
the soil's surface the dry dust soon becomes so very warm 
or hot that a vapor begins to rise from the surface of the 
moist soil below and soon the lower particles of the dust 
blanket become slightly moistened; then other particles 
still above, while the lower ones become slightly more 
moist until connection is sufficient to lift the moisture on 
up to the surface where it is lost. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



249 



The dust blanket is also very objectionable in the 
early spring, as a warranty deed or a patent from Uncle 
Sam will not hold it when the strong March winds reach 
after it. This difficulty, however, is not true in all the 
semi-arid sections, especially on the Pacific Coast, but is 




A. B. 

Out No. 23. Soil Mulch and Dust Blanket after rain* 
Mulch, (b) Dnst Blanket. 



(a) Soa 



very serious in other localities that are more subject to 
high spring winds. 

The dust blanket is also objectionable wherever heavy 
rains are liable to occur, more especially in sections where 
the soils are of a very fine texture. The tendency of a 
sudden heavy rain falling upon a dust blanket or mulch is 
to dissolve and run the mulch together, leaving it very hard 
and compact on the surface*. If the sun can reach the sur- 
face a very dense crust is quickly formed and if not worked 
very quickly it will soon be so hard that the common har- 
row or weeder will not touch it. 



250 Campbell's soil culture manual 

soil mulch. 

Soil mulch is the true name for the loose soil on sur- 
face intended to conserve moisture below, and this mulch 
should be composed of lumps of soil ranging from the size 
of a pin head to that of a walnut. To secure such a mulch 
may seem difficult, but it is not if the soil is cultivated or 
harrowed when moist, not wet, not dry. When loosened 
up under this condition the soil readily separates the same 
as when plowed in ideal condition. Careful notation will 
disclose the fact that the soil under this condition takes 
a granular form. The sun soon dries these granules or 
lumps and no blowing will be noted whatever. 

A soil mulch composed of these minute and larger 
lumps will hold the moisture below without loss very much 
longer and very much more effectively than the dust blanket.. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 251 



CHAPTER XXX, 



GETTING MOST OUT OF THE FARM. 

There is much loss to farming operations, and it is a 
matter of common knowledge that the great majority of 
farmers fall short of achieving their best because of 
the imperfection of their work. There are so many ways 
that loss can come to the farmer that this is not surprising. 
It may come through indolence or the inability to do that 
which is nesessary. Farming is hard work when science 
is not recognized. It may come through sheer waste, for 
there is no other place where waste is so easy and so con- 
stant unless guarded against. It too frequently comes be- 
cause of wrong methods, or doing the wrong thing, or 
trying too many experiments, or because the farmer dis- 
poses of his raw materials, and only half completes the 
work that is his by right. 

That there is a right way and a wrong way for nearly 
everything will not be disputed. Familiar illustrations 
are found on every hand. The housewife who combines 
skill and intelligence with her work prepares the bread, 
and after working, and mixing, and baking, she produces 
the finest loaf possible. Another with the same materials, 
and doing perhaps as much work, but in a different way, 
gets bread unfit for the table. And so it is with nearly 
everything. 

In agriculture it is necessary that the farmer, if he is to 
keep abreast of the times, if he is to compete with others, 
if he is to get the most out of his farming operations and 



252 Campbell's soil culture manual 

realize what he should, must put his head to work and 
inform himself as to thp correct lines to follow that he may 
be most successful. He must learn how to handle the 
soil that he will haye it at his command the largest amount 
of available soil fertility, and he must know how to use 
this. But he must go further and make a study of the 
question how to get the greatest benefit from his crops 
by diversification of his industry and by completing the 
processes. 

Diversified farming is a subject to which too little atten- 
tion is given by the average farmer. He imagines it is 
some fad or tomfoolery and that it is best confined to the 
books. But it is a reality. It shows results, and that is 
the important thing. 

The farmer is by nature and training conservative. He 
has done well; he cannot very well realize how much better 
he might have done, or what is possible for him in the 
future. He does not comprehend, except in rare instances, 
the vast difference in final profits between doing things by 
strictly scientific methods and doing the same things by 
the common go-lucky way. 

It is not sufficient that the farmer find out how to grow 
the largest crops and get tons or bushels as his portion; 
he must know what further he can do with his grain and 
hay and fodder to make the end most desirable. Divers- 
ified or mixed farming shows the way. Grain raising to 
the exclusion of all else is not wise. It is wasteful to the 
land, and wasteful to the crop itself. By raising all kinds 
of crops better results are obtained. 

And in the matter of preventing waste, it is essential 
that live stock be added to the farm. Cattle and hogs, 
and perhaps sheep and poultry, are necessary. Right 
there the farmer becomes in part a manufacturer. The 



Campbell's soil culture manual 263 

conversion of the corn and oats and hay into meat, butter, 
cheese, etc., is the aim of farming operations in general. 
The grain must finally be fit for human food in some 
form. Raising live stock is a part of the process of manu- 
facturing good food out of the grain. 

Dairying and poultry raising go a long way toward 
completing the natural processes of the farm. Both are 
possible in some degree on all farms. Sometimes best 
results are possible in dairying only where there are many 
farmers combined to work together, but always there is 
some advantage in keeping a few animals on the farm. 
As to breeds, feeding and care of live stock that is another 
question — one so broad that it should be treated in sepa- 
rate volumes — but its relationship to other farm operations 
is easily understood. 

It has been declared with much positiveness that the 
waste on an average farm represents a value greater than 
the average profit of farms. If so, then farmers have not 
done as well as those who have devoted themselves to com- 
mercial pursuits. The expense of operation of the great 
packing plants, so it is stated, is paid in full by the receipts 
from that which formerly went as waste in the processes of 
meat marketing. A good deal of the same kind of economy 
is possible on the farm. 

In the matter of preventing waste on the farm nothing 
is quite equal to cattle and hogs. Between them they 
glean all that is valuable. But in addition they retain on 
the farm that which is valuable to soil and which may be 
returned from time to time in the form of the barnyard 
manures which are essential to the best farming operations. 
The application of barnyard manures to the land will go 
far toward, and is one of the requisites in maintaining the 
soil fertility and offsetting the evil effects of drouth. 



254 ;ampbell's soil culture manual 

The proper diversification of farming operations is a 
fit subject for much study by every inteUigent farmer. It 
has relation to all his work. It goes to the point of con- 
serving soil elements and building up the soil by develop- 
ment of the necessary humus, and it has relation to waste 
and to partial manufacture as a part of farm work. The 
diversification may come in a score of ways. It is not 
best to carry it too far or to try all^ ways at once; but careful 
study of the subject in connection with the local conditions 
and opportunities will point the right w^ay. It is at least 
quite proper to make a specialty of some one thing. 

In a large sense the science of proper culture of the soil 
so as to make its properties available for the best results 
is only one branch of the larger subject of properly mixing 
the farm operations so as to get the most out of the soil. 



CAMPBELL^S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL ^55 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



PRACTICAL RESULTS. 

V7hat has actually been done to demonstrate that 
scientific soil culture is practical and that good results 
follow? 

The question is a proper one. The careful reader of 
this manual will hardly need to ask the question, for scat- 
tered all through it is given many illustrations of what has 
been done, and many reports are made of specific results 
attained under the system. But at the risk of doing that 
which is needless, we desire here to present just a few facts 
showing some of the things done, so that the inquirer 
may have them all in one place to better consider them. 

This work has been done by conducting experiments 
at a number of places, which a^ j mt.:itioned in the Manual 
but we will here confine our rei jrd to a few where the most 
careful work was done. 

First, was the accomplishment at the Pomeroy model 
farm at Hill City, Kansas, far out toward the Colorado line. 
This is a locality which has been regarded by many as about 
as unfavorable as it was possible to find. The author of 
the Manual conducted for Hon. James P. Pomeroy a model 
farm^ of Colorado Springs, and a great deal of what has 
been learned came out of that farm. It was started in 
1900. As illustrating results, it can be said that one field 
that had been farmed for fourteen years, and never but one 
crop cut in that time, was summer tilled in 1900, and 
yielded 42^ bushels of wheat in 1901; was summer tilled 



256 Campbell's soil culture manual 

again in 1902, and cropped in 1903-4-5-6, averaging in the 
four seasons fully 40 bushels per acre. The last crop, that 
in 1906, a very good year, and the yield was the largest 
ever grown on the land. 

THE BURLINGTON FARM. 

Second, and more important, because conducted with 
even greater care, was the results from the Burlington 
model farm. This is a tract at Holdrege, Nebraska. In 
1905, for instance, wheat to the amount of 54| bushels 
and testing 63 pounds, was secured from summer tilled 
lands, while other lands well handled on the same farm 
but not summer tilled, only gave 32 bushels testing 60 
pounds. In 1906 what on summer tilled ground gave 51| 
bushels testing 64 pounds. Wheat as a second crop on 
land summer tilled in 1904, which yielded 54| bushels in 
1905, yielded in 1906 49| bushels testing 63 pounds. 
Wheat on land well handled but never summer tilled 
yielded 28 bushels testing 60^ pounds. This all showed 
the marked effect of summer tilling on the second year's 
crops. 

Again, it was shown in experiments on a farm in Hitch- 
cock county, Nebraska, in a crop of 1904, what could be 
accomplished. Here a wheat crop of 41 bushels per acre 
was obtained on ground properly handled under the 
Campbell system, when 90 per cent of over 20,000 acres 
in the same county was a total failure. 

At Grainfield, Kansas, in the same year, a yield of 56 
bushels per acre was obtained, when many fields around 
failed entirely because of the drouth in 1903 which con- 
tinued up till the spring of 1904. 

Henry F. Kipp has had success with the Campbell method 
in Western Nebraska, where in the summer of 1904, he 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



257 



harvested from 20 acres sown in winter wheat 820 bushels 
testing 59 pounds, or an average of 41 bushels per acre. 
This was on land cultivated the previous year, when the 
nearly eight months of drouth gave a loss of 90 per cent 
of the wheat in the same neighborhood. 

COLORADO RESULTS. 

A number of farmers in Eastern Colorado made reports 
on. the results of their 1906 work in following the Campbell 
method of soil culture for wheat, and here is a brief state- 
n^ent of the same: Charles Butler, Calhan, 36 acres, 31 




Sorghiim by Thorough Cultivation on sod breaking in Eastern 
Colorado. 

bushels; W. Syes, Calhan, 20 acres, 32 bushels; E. Loring, 
Yuma, 40 acres, 36 bushels; George Owens, Longmont, 72 
acres, 39 bushels; E. A. Mead, Ault, 40 acres, 48 bushels; 
E. P. House, Greeley, 53 bushels; John F. Wright, Long- 
mont, 25 acres, 53 bushels; William Callaway, Wray, 20 



258 Campbell's soil culture manual 

acres, 62 bushels; Lee K. Klein, Loveland, 40 acres, 65 
bushels; In this same vicinity the same season Bergstron 
Bros., of Longmont„got 80 bushels of barley; A. Mead, of 
Ault, got 75 bushels barley; and L. L. Mulligan, of Long- 
mont, got 75 bushels of barley. The results show that 
these farmers did not follow the system closely or perfectly 
but they did get results just in proportion to the fidelity 
with which they followed out the system. 

Near Limon, Col. W. S, Pershing got over 300 bushels 
per acre of turnips which he sold for 75 cents per hundred 
weight. 

In raising corn Charles H. Lee, 40 feet from water, 
raised 30 acres of corn which gave 50 bushels to the acre, 
and on watermelons he realized $150 an acre. Henry Swan 
50 feet from sheet water, raised on 40 acres 30 bushels of 
macaroni wheat per acre, and on 50 acres of corn he got 
50 bushels per acre. B. Rice, 40 feet to water, got 40 
bushels per acre of corn from a 30-acre tract. 

Joseph Emmal, who lives near Ramah, Col., following 
the Campbell sytem, reported an average of 120 bushels of 
potatoes; and C. F. Butler, near the same place reports 
that for five years he has averaged 130 bushels of potatoes 
per acre. 

E. R. Parsons, on an orchard near Parker, Col., made a 
net profit of $1,345 from 1,000 cherry trees, 500 plum trees, 
200 ^pple trees and 1,400 currant bushes. All were cared 
for under the soil culture methods. 

On the grounds of the State Soldiers' Home at Lisbon, 
N. D., in 1897, on a tract cultivated for two years under 
the Campbell method the phenomenal yield of 23 tons of 
sugar beets per acre was obtained. 

As to what the use of the system has accomplished in 
four counties of Colorado alone, where the farmers have 
made more general use of the system than elsewhere, the 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 259 

land department of the Union Pacific makes the following 
estimate of the wheat and corn acreage and crops in three 
counties, the counties mentioned being Adams, Arapahoe, 
Lincoln and Cheyenne.: 

Wheat. Corn. 

Year. Acreage. Bushels. Acreage. Bushels. 

1905........ 2,000 30,000 5,000 100,000 

1906 12,000 180,000 12,000 300,000 

1907 35,000 525,000 30,000 750,000 

On the ranch of Kilpatrick Bros., in Chase County, 
Neb., in 1904, a wheat crop was grown with 30 bushels 
to the acre, whereas all round, because of a seven months' 
drouth, there was total failure of the cropo 

On the Burlington farm in Nebraska, 228 acres under 
cultivation were handled in 1904 and two subsequent years 
by two men and nine horses, except harvest time; and in 
1905 the net profit on the farm was over $4,000 or $11.76 
per acre on the entire acreage of 340 acres in crops, meadow 
and pasture. 

We give these various specific reports only as samples 
of what has been done; but results have been achieved all 
over the states of the semi-arid region quite as striking. 

ONE EXAMPLE. 

J. D. Clarkson, writing from Greenfield, Kan., tells of 
the result of work being done there as follows: 

'^I was out east of this town looking over some wheat 
fields and am sending you two samples of wheat as found 
growing in the same fields not ten feet apart. One of them 
was growing on ground cultivated by the Campbell sys- 
tem for two years. This is the second crop. It yielded 
34 bushels to the acre the first crop. The other sample 
was taken from land not over ten feet away that has been 
cultivated by the old method of disking the wheat in the 



260 Campbell's soil culture manual 

stalk ground. An exaination of the sample that was 
taken from the land under the Campbell culture shows a 
bunch of roots forty in number, ranging from two to four 
inches in length, each of which is strong and vigorous. From 
this bunch of roots have sprung eight stalks now ranging 
from nine to twelve inches in length. This all comes from 
one grain of wheat that may be seen just in the center of 
the bunch of roots. On the land that was disked in among 
the corn stalks I had to take five bunches of roots to get 
eight stalks, and they did not average more than one-half 
the size or length of the others, and the roots in the five 
bunches are not half as much as the others in bulk or 
length. These two samples of growing wheat, taken as 
they were from land otherwise just alike except in the 
manner of cultivation and seeded about the same time, is 
a glaring example of the value of your experiments and 
researches in the interests of the farmmers in the semi-arid 
belt, and it would be to the financial interest of these pro- 
pie if some means could be devised whereby results of your 
years of experience and experim^ents could be given much 
wider circulation, especially for those who are just coming 
into this section." 

A KANSAS EXPERIENCE. 

The following letter written by J. B. Beal, chief land 
examiner of the Union Tacific land department, to Land 
Commissioner Houtz, at Omaha, Aug. 1, 1904, from Grain- 
field, Kas., tells an interesting story of results: 

"You wrote me on the 6th of May in answer to a letter 
1 wrote you about the field of wheat east of Grainfield that 
we looked at when you were here, I thought I would wait 
until the wheat was harvested and thrashed and then give 
you a full synopsis of the matter. Ail of this has taken 



Campbell's soil culture manual 261 

place. I will commence at the beginning. This ground 
was plowed good probably six inches deep the first part 
of June, 1903; it was sub-packed and harrowed as soon as 
the plowing was completed, then after each rain, I think 
a day after, the ground was harrowed over and the crust 
that would have formed on the ground when it commenced 
to dry up was pulverized and made fine. This tract of 
land was harrowed I think seven times between the time 
of packing after plowing in June and the time of seeding, 
which was the 19th, 20th and 21st days of September, and 
there- was nothing more done to this field of wheat until 
the harvesting commenced. The cost of the work, and 
it was all hired done, including the purchase of the seed 
wheat, was $3.25 per acre; this wheat made a fairly good 
growth last fall and as soon as the warm days commenced 
to come this spring this wheat began to grow and you re- 
member how it looked the night we walked over it, and 
this was long before we had our first spring rain. It kept 
on growing until it was a good height and completely cov- 
ered the ground before we had our first rain, looking all 
the time as fresh as a rose. The people were watching 
this wheat field, and as no other wheat in the country was 
growing at all, they concluded one evening they would fix 
up a test auger and go over there and test the depth of 
moisture in the ground. They found it upon their in- 
vestigation nice and moist five feet down,' and of course 
this is the sequel of the whole matter. All of this moisture 
fell on the ground last summer after the plowing was done 
and retained there by this system of harrowing the ground 
after each rain, keeping the ground fine and loose on top. 
''We find by the Campbell System that we can as well 
keep the moisture in the ground as to put it in a jug and 
put in a cork. This wheat field has been looked at by 



262 Campbell's soil culture manual 

many people this summer. The ground has been carefully 
measured and found to contain a trifle less than 38 acres. 

"It took five pounds of twine to bind each acre, and 
with the black rust that struck the wheat, the same as all 
other fields in this country, this wheat yielded a little over 
35 bushels per acre and weighed 60 pounds per bushel. 
The people that know most about wheat in this country 
say that the rust damaged this field of wheat not less than 
20 bushels per acre, and my honest belief that if the rust 
had not affected it it would have made 60 bushels per acre. 

"The wheat sold for $22.50 per acre, less the cost of 
planting it and placing it upon the market, which was $6.50 
per acre, leaving a net profit of $16.00 per acre. I think 
this a fair margin for $5.00 land." 



■^AHFBSL>I;'3 SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 263 



IHAPTER XXXII. 



f/iNTER KILLING OF AUTUMN SOWN GRAIN. 

The question of winter killing of autumn sown grain 
in the semi-arid belt is one that called forth much dis- 
cussion along in the nineties, but of recent years we hear 
but little except an occasional comment in a severe cold 
period during the winter months, when the fields are bare. 
This fact is largely due to better fitting of the soil bed by 
the farmers generally. 

Few people realize just why autumn sown grain winter 
kills. Years of careful observation have proven conclu- 
sively that it is invariably due to a loose seed and root 
bed and little moisture. We have never seen any apparent 
signs of winter killing on any part of a field that had been 
summer tilled except where water had stood for some 
length of time and frozen. 

In the autum of 1898 a great portion of Kansas and 
Nebraska had very little rain, in short but little rain fell 
after the middle of August, except in the extreme eastern 
part of the two states, therefore a large amount of fall 
wheat was sown in soil plowed and fitted rather dry. Rain 
was sufficient to germinate most fields of wheat, but the 
winter was open with frequent freezes, and when spring 
came much wheat was found to be dead. The writer was 
asked to investigate and gave much time to the question. 
Over a considerable scope of the country we found the fol- 
lowing facts and conditions to be uniformly true. 

Through the major part of all fields, the wheat was 



264 Campbell's soil culture manual 

badly damaged. Wherever we noted a' horse foot track 
the wheat in or at the edge was invariably green. Where 
we found fields plowed round the field, at the corners 
where the horses had tramped the portion in turning, we 
also found green wheat. This was especially true in oiie 
field in Northwest Kansas, where the farmer had harrowed 
his field thoroughly after plowing as above mentioned and 
before seeding. Other marked contrasts were shown in the 
dead furrows and the back furrows. In the latter the 
wheat was almost invariably found dead entirely, while 
along the edge of the former we found good stands of green 
wheat. These observations together with many others led 
us to one conclusion, viz., that winter killing of all autumn 
sown grain would never be known, if the following prin- 
ciples were carefully observed: 

1. Conservation of soil moisture. 

2. Plowing of fields only when moist. 

3. The use of the sub-surface packer well weighted at 
the proper time. 

It is exceedingly difficult to put too much stress upon 
these three requisites, especially is it true with reference 
to the packer; its work is most vital for the development 
and support of strong and healthy plants. 

We would also call attention to some very strong cor- 
roborating evidence in the quotation from Bulletin No. 52, 
issued by the Agricultural Experimental Station of Illinois 
in 1898 referred to at length under tree growing, the sum 
of which was that fruit trees winter killed frequently in 
early fruit growing in Illinois, and it was finally agreed 
that soil and climatic conditions were not favorable for 
fruit growing, especially apples. After the Agricultural 
College began to take notes it soon became evident that 
the trouble all came from trees going into the winter with 



Campbell's soil culture manual 265 

little or no moisture about the roots, since which time 
there has been no trouble whatever, and the same sections 
have proven to be great apple producing localities, by 
simply handling the soil just a little differently. 

Few farmers in the central west today would think of 
handling their soil as was commonly done only eight or 
ten years ago, and yet they are only just beginning to grasp 
the fundamental principles, all of which mean dollars, hap- 
piness and greater prosperity to them^ 



266 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



STOOLING OF GRAIN. 

The real cause of small grain stooling is not a question 
well understood by the average tiller of the soil, and yet 
it is a subject that if well understood would pave the way 
to the comprehension of other even more puzzling and yet 
most important subjects. The simple fact that the farmer 
has not understood this question has led him to do things 
that has cost him money as well as bring an actual detri- 
ment to his crop. To understand these principles is to 
explain and make clear why the farmer should be so very 
careful to carry out many of the principles laid down under 
the chapters on Plowing, Sub-Packing and Summer Cul- 
ture. 

To more clearly expl-ain this phenomenon we call your 
attention to Cut No. 24, where we show the two condi- 
tions, one of which promotes stooling the other does not. 
At the left is the more common condition of the soil in the 
average western field. This represents soil that has not 
been packed and has been plowed when in fair conditiou 
and harrowed. The root system here is not large because 
soil of this nature does not carry a large amount of moisture, 
on the other hand it carries large quantities of air. This 
unbalanced condition brings about slow chemical action 
which liberates small quantities of plant elements or fer- 
tility, consequently the development of roots is but little 
in excess of what the first and original main stalk can take 
care of, consequently little or no stooling has taken place. 



CAMPBELL^S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 267 

Theory among many of the early farmers had it that 
a period of cool days was necessary for stooling,, therefore 
when this period came it was as a rule hailed with joy. 
This is what we should call stooling under forced condi- 
tions, such as would not result in well filled heads from 
the increased stools. 

It is true that a cool period after the soil has warmed 
up in the spring and growth of the young plant commenced 
will cause stooling, but why? Because the rootlets are 
gathering in the moisture laden with plant elements and 
starting it on its way to light and sunshine, when the at- 
mosphere cools to that degree that there is no evaporation 
for the leaf, the movement up the main stalk ceases. 

CAUSE OF STOOLING. 

The moisture and plant elements being gathered in by 
the little hair roots or feeders must materialize somewhere, 
.consequetnly the additional stooling or increased number 
of suckers or stalks. Now these little new shoots soon be- 
come full fledged stalks. The consequence is an increased 
leaf surface, and when the clear, warm, sunny weather 
comes on and the leaves are fanned by the warm southern 
breezes evaporation from the leaf surface is greatly in- 
creased, and each warm period as the leaves increase in 
size and number brings a greater demand on the roots 
for moisture. Under the soil conditions shown on the left, 
the time is sure to come when the requisite amount of mois- 
ture cannot be supplied, and when this time comes we have 
a condition quite similar to the oil lamp when the oil has 
been all taken out of the bowl by the burning blaze at 
the top of the wick. Steadily the soil becomes drier like 
the wick and finally these stools begin to die off. When 
t^'is y^eriod is reached the real damage to the final crop is 



268 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



measured largely by the stage of growth of the plaDt. If 
at the beginning of the farming point the head in the ori- 
ginal or parent stalk will be smaller; if at the kernel form- 
ing period, the less kernel, etc. 

The point we wish to convey is the fact that coarse, 
loose soils as shown in the cut at the left will not permit 




A. B. 

Cut No. 24. Growth and stooling of grain, (a) Growth in loose 

unpacked soil, (b) Growth and stooling of 

wheat in ideal soil conditions. 

of a perfect root system, and will not carry to exceed one- 
fifth to one -tenth the amount of moisture (see cut No. 10); 
also that moisture will not move by capillary attraction 
more than one-fourth to one-eighth as fast in such soil 
consequently crops under this most common condition in 
the past, during a prolonged drouth, had to suffer severely 
or perish entirely. 

THE SCIENTIFIC CONDITION. 

At the right end of cut No. 24 we have the ideal condi- 
tion. As shown in cut No. 16 the lower portion of the fur- 



Campbell's soil culture manual 269 

row has been made fine and firm. The seed has been de- 
posited in the Httle V-shaped crevice where germination 
is rapid and the little rootlets almost immediately begin 
to meander about in all directions, sending out numerous 
little feeders to gather in moisture and plant elements. 
By this rapid development of roots, each doing its part as 
nature intended, the moisture and plant elements are gath- 
ered in so rapidly that the little lone stalk cannot take care 
of it all. This plant elemerit must be utilized in some 
manner and out comes another tiny stalk, then another, 
and so nature's desire for life and growth goes on in its 
active work until ten, twenty, fifty and *we have seen even 
one hundred and two perfect stalks with wheat bearing 
heads grown from one kernel. 

This very marked stooling will take place very largely 
in proportion to the physical condition of the soil and the 
amount of available fertility. For example a piece of sand 
loam prairie with "a clay sub-soil such as is found, as a rule, 
in the great semi-arid belt that has been cropped one or 
more times, then summer tilled carefully as explained in 
Chapters 8, 9, and 10, you will have a condition that will 
not permit of sowing over twenty pounds of winter wheat 
or twenty-five pounds of spring wheat, and if the work has 
been well done and in the more arid portion of the semi- 
arid sections, not more than three-fourths of the above 
amount should be shown. 

Stools developed under these conditions are very much 
more likely to carry through and mature. 



27u Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XXXiy. 



QUANTITY OF SEED, 

What the necessary amount of seed per acre is, is a 
question somewhat complex, as there are many Httle de- 
tails some of which have much to do with the quantity 
of seed and the final crop result. Therefore, we find it 
entirely out of the question to outline imperative rules for 
the real or necessary quantity of seed. 

We well remember a book published about twenty-five 
years ago which had a table giving the required amount 
of seed for the different farm crops-. As we now under- 
stand soil physics, soil fertility and the moisture question, 
this table seems not only very inconsistent, but ridiculous. 
For example it says ^'75 to 90 pounds of winter wheat per 
acre on good rich soil." To cover practically what was 
meant by tho language we would now say that on good 
soil scientifically fitted from 15 to 20 pounds of winter 
wheat, and if more was sown, the chances would be very 
much in favor of less yield of grain and a poorer quality 

On the Burlington Model Farm in the autumn of 1904 
a piece of summer tilled land was by mistake seeded with 
thirty pounds of seed, and the result was straw and heads 
enough for seventy bushels per acre, but it was so thick 
that the straw became weak and more or less of the entire 
field went down. The yield was only 46| bushels per acre, 
the grain testing only 58 pounds. vThe stubble was so 
thick, long and more or less matted that we were obliged 
to burn it off to plow. This same field was seeded again 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 271 

to wheat in the autumn of 1905, and anticipating less 
available fertility we sowed twenty-two pounds of seed 
and the 1906 yield was 49§ bushels per acre, testing 63 
pounds per bushel. Several similar instances have been 
observed with like results, showing conclusively that we 
must gauge the quantity of all kinds of seeds per acre by 
the physical condition of the soil. The more ideally per- 
fect the 5oil is fitted, the greater is the amount of available 
fertility, consequently the less seed is required by nature 
for the best results. As a rule summer tilled fields that 
are scientifically handled require about one-third the amount 
of wheat, oats or barley that has been commonly sowed by 
the farmer, but careful observation in testing fields only 
can give the farmer the correct idea as to the proper quan- 
tity for certain conditions. 

It should be borne in mind that with coarse plump seed 
slightly more is required; on the other hand fine, somewhat 
shrunken seeds with a healthy germ require less; also that 
early seeding requires slightly less seed than late planting. 
Keep in mind that the proper quantity of seed with thor- 
oughly fitted fields gives the highest yield, that above or 
below this ideal quantity will diminish the yield. The rule 
today is too much seed per acre; the quantity as well as the 
quality is frequently less from over seeding. 

For well fitted summer tilled fields the following quan- 
tity of good seeds is most desirable when the seeding is done 
sufficiently early: Winter wheat, 18 to 20 pounds; spring 
wheat, 22 to 25 pounds; oats, 20 to 25 pounds; barley, 35 
to 40 pounds per acre. 

Corn to do best in the more arid sections should never 
carry more than two kernels to the hill. Potatoes should 
be planted early with from one-fourth to one-third less 
seed than is commonly planted in the more humid sections. 



272 Campbell's soil culture manual 

The main points to keep in mind are : First and above 
all things, as nearly as may be possible a perfect physical 
condition of the soil backed by ample stored water below; 
the good seed carefully selected, followed by good judg- 
ment at seed time to see that the quantity of seed con- 
forms to soil conditions, the careful after culture together 
with not only an ambition but an effort each season to ex- 
cell the previous crop. Remember that the average crop 
is not one-third of the possible yield of our soils. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 273 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



THE INEVITABLE DRY SEASONS. 

The seasons change and the favors of nature are given 
or withheld by the operation of laws or influences of which 
we know little. No man can know just when the storm 
will come or when the drouth will follow. But we do know 
that, in a general way, long periods of abundance of rain 
are likely to be followed by periods of drouth, and for this 
we must always be prepared. 

We clip a fugative item from the daily newspapers in 
March, 1907, as below, in which Prof. Willis L. Moore, 
chief of the United States weather bureau at Washington, 
is quoted as giving warning of a drouth in the western 
country. We give it not so much that this prediction has 
value or causes surprise, but for reasons which are indi- 
cated later. The item is: 

*Trof. Moore predicts that the country is due for a long 
period of drouth. The present long period of abundant 
rainfall over the great cereal plains, about six years, is the 
longest of which the weather bureau has any records. 
Prof. Moore is certain that there will be a shortage in rain- 
fall soon equal to amount to the excess during the last six 
years. This is based on the records of the bureau, which 
show that the average rainfall during the first ten years of 
a period of thirty, forty, or fifty years is precisely the same 
as the average of the last ten. Many persons write to the 
bureau, saying that they have been advised to buy land in 
a region formerly classed as arid. It is offered for saleta 



274 Campbell's soil culture manual 

them on the ground that there has been a permanent 
change in the cUmate. Invariable Prof. Moore answers 
that the climate has not changed. Prof. Moore points out 
that the country does not need as much rain as it did 
formerly to make the land productive. The virgin soil is 
being broken up and the trees are being planted. While 
this does not increase the rainfall, as is sometimes stated, 
it makes the same amount more efficient and more profit- 
able, because the soil is broken up and there will not be so 
much evaporation, the ground absorbing it more thor- 
oughly. '' 

The warning should be taken to heart by everyone, not 
with fear and forebodings, but with redoubled effort to 
solve and solve correctly and finally the problem of how to 
meet just such conditions as are predicted without danger 
of crop losses. 

It is worth while to point out that if there are persons 
who are urging others to begin farming in the semi-arid 
or arid regions on the claim of there having been any per- 
manent change in the climate they are the worst possible 
enemies of those whom they would dupe, as well as of the 
country they seek to populate. There is no reason to be- 
lieve there will be any material difference between the 
climate of the Twentieth century and that of the Nine- 
teenth. 

But Prof. Moore does recognize, as many others have 
that conditions are changing in the semi-arid country and 
that better results are being obtained. Naturally he looks 
about for a cause and an explanation. He gives that 
which comes most readily to hand. It is true there is no 
increase in rainfall — averaging up one year with another 
— and it is true there is an increase of moisture available 
for the use of the plants. It is hardly fair, however, to 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 275 

attribute this merely to the fact that ''the soil is broken 
up/' unless it is intended by that phrase to include a good 
<leal more, and to convey the idea that not only is the soil 
broken up, but that the farmers have been intelligently 
applying improved methods of cultivation with special 
view to meeting the adverse conditions which they find 
all about them. With this modification the hint of explan- 
ation, which may not be exactly as Prof. Moore himself 
would put it, is all right. 

That the semi-arid regions are better prepared now to 
fight the drouth and to stand independent of the varying 
fortunes of the weather, is certainly true. Yet much 
more can and must be done in the way of spreading the 
knowledge among the new farmers of the new west. 



276 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



THE DOMAIN OF SOIL CULTURE. 

Who shall bound the domain in which scientific soil 
culture is destined to be in fact a redeemer? It is a new 
thing, but many there are who inquire anxiously as to its 
limits. But no man can yet tell. It surely is far reaching 

One thing is certain, scientific soil culture is not a sys- 
tem adapted solely to farming in the dry regions, but it is 
a system useful also to the farmer who may have in most 
years an abundance of water. Let it be remembered, and 
this is something within the knowledge of all, that there 
are very few places anywhere on the globe entirely free 
from the danger of disaster to crops by reason of waste of 
the water. The farmer, no matter where he lives, is indeed 
rare who has never seen his crops wither and decline dur- 
ing a drouthy period for want of perhaps a small amount 
of moisture at the critical period of growth. 

But there are regions where it is indispensible, where 
irrigation is impossible, and the plan of adopting desert 
plants has not been made a success. This area is large. 

Like other useful things in the world, scientific soil 
culture is a child of necessity. The system was developed 
in adversity. Failure was its inspiration. There is an ir- 
regular and variable line running through the Dakotas, 
Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, which has long 
been supposed to mark the extreme limit of profitable soil 
tillage for ordinary crops. It was on the border line of the 
farming regions, right where they merge into the broad acres 



Campbell's soil culture manual 277 

of grazing land, that this system of eliminating the imagin- 
ary boundary line was developed under our own guidance. 
Under the old system there was the long series of alternat- 
ing successes and failures, resulting in an impoverished land 
and heart broken men and women, for the failures were 
more numerous than the successes. Here was the birth of 
scientific soil culture, and here it has had its first and great- 
est victories. 

But a great deal has actually been done in at least a 
dozen good states. In eastern Colorado splendid results 
have been achieved by application ♦of the principles, often 
imperfectly it is true, yet sufficient to produce good results. 
In western Kansas and western Nebraska the triumphs 
have been great. Something has been accomplished in 
northern Texas, and in Oklahoma a^nd New Mexico near 
by. In Wyoming and in Montana, in many rich valleys 
and uplands, the good work is going on. In all these states 
individual experimenters are accomplishing good results. 
These are mostly homesteaders and those who have pur- 
chased railroad lands. Thousands of our 1902 and 1905 
manuals have found their way into the hands of men who 
are tilling the soil in these states. They make use of the 
ideas they have gathered there, and in due time they will 
come into the full fruition of their labor and studies. 

But the call is also for more detailed information and 
from further west. Out on the plains of eastern Oregon 
enterprising and courageous men have taken up the sys- 
tem and are working it out with results that are astonish- 
ing to their neighbors. In Washington and California in- 
terest is being taken in the subject. We have lectured in 
many states and explained the system and are having calls 
to go to many of these states for furthei work. 

But the system is of value also in the more favored 



278 Campbell's soil culture manual 

regions of the Mississippi valley and along the coasts of 
lakes and oceans where there is abundance of water, but 
where distribution is not always what it should be. Farm- 
ers in these regions are making use of the principles enun- 
ciated to enable them the better to increase their yields 
and to make doubly sure of good crops. 

Within the past year we have been visited by men from 
South Africa, with a view to having our system tried there. 
Letters and inquiries have come from Porto Rico, Aus- 
tralia, Mexico, Canada and elsewhere, indicating that there 
is demand for knowledge concerning the system all over 
the world. 

The soil culture empire has no limits . The system is 
useful on every farm. It reaches over oceans and moun- 
tains. Over vast areas the principles are triumphing over 
the perverseness of nature. And some day this soil culture 
empire will be the garden spot of the earth, 



Campbell's soil culture manual 279 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 

A great deal is being written for the books, magazines 
and newspapers about the wonderful things that are being 
done in all industrial lines for the advancement of the hu- 
man race. It is era of achievement.* Men do things. And 
as a result the sum total of human happiness is promoted 
with much rapidity. , 

We all feel that the natural trend of things in the open- 
ing decade indicates that the Twentieth century is to mark 
an advancement in all material things that go to give com- 
fort to mankind far in advance of the splendid record of 
the Nineteenth or any previous century. The passion is 
for progress, for the new things, for the better things, for 
the more perfect organization and accomplishment. 

Yet it is all too true that man is naturally conservative 
and is prone to cling tenaciously to the good old things. 
He changes only under stress of necessity. That which is 
new must demonstrate its right to existence. It is ever- 
lastingly true now as it has always been in the past that 
conservatism stands in the way of progress. Inventors 
and discoverers have had to meet and overcome conser- 
vatism with its strong backing of prejudice. One such 
was compelled to go to prison because he declared his be- 
lief that the world was round. Another struggled for years 
to get a hearing in his project of demonstrating that he 
could cross the ocean and reach the Indies by apparently 
going away from them. An inventor who devised a ma- 



280 Campbell's soil culture manual 

chine to sew mechanically was denounced as having sought 
to take from the seamstresses their means of earning a 
living. Wise railroad owners laughed at the young man 
who first proposed a plan for stopping railroad trains with 
air. Men who have taken the advance step in discovery 
or invention, in all science and knowledge, have won their 
way over ignorance and prejudice. Sometimes it has been 
necessary to overcome the inertia of error as it lies en- 
trenched behind years of wrong teaching. Of course the 
truth prevails in the end; but to very many of those to 
whom it has been given to be leaders in special lines it has 
seemed like long waiting for the victory. 

If there is progress in industry generall}^ there is also 
progress in all forms of industry that relate to farming. 
And if this progress in most things is accomplished spite 
of prejudice it holds true as to agriculture. Scientific cul- 
ture of the soil is a step forward; but it has had to make 
its opposition. It has proved its worth on the great prai- 
ries of the west that have been given a bad name by the 
early travelers and investigators. They got a wrong idea 
and passed it on to others. From their ox-train wagons 
they looked out upon what seemed to them a dreary waste 
of more than half desert land. They had left the trees 
and the wood-bordered meadows behind, and they sent 
back word that between the valleys and the mountains 
was a trackless plain fit only for wild and roving bands 
of buffalos. It was advertised that these vast regions were 
uninhabitable. 

But later came the trans-continental railroads to con- 
nect the oceans. Travelers whose investigations were made 
from the windows of swiftly speeding cars told only of the 
sandy plains. They did not stop to consider that perhaps 
here was a country where Nature had left it for man to 
solve a few problems by study and application. It would 



Campbell's soil culture manual 281 

never do to make the whole face of the earth a Garden of 
Eden, where man had only to gather the fruit and eat. 

And so to the natural conservatism of man in regard to 
all things was added the wrong teachings as to the charac- 
ter of the vast semi-arid regions, and this in time engen- 
dered deep-seated prejudices, which it will take many years 
to remove. Then, again, there have been years of study 
of agriculture following the lines of the forefathers, and 
adapting the study to conditions that generally prevail 
where agriculture is most favored. Here again is created 
prejudice against anything new or different. 

Scientific soil culture has been under the necessity of 
making a place for itself despite prejudice. It has been 
necessary to not only show that this method is right, but 
also that old methods are wrong. 

Agricultural science is making as great progress as any 
other branch of human activity. The prejudices of the 
past are being broken down rapidly. Men are thinking 
about the matter and thinking differently from what they 
were. One cannot make much progress without getting 
into a new way of thinking. Scientific soil culture involves 
this very thing, for he who succeeds at it must do very 
much original thinking that he may work out the little 
problems which no man can foresee. If the farmer who 
approaches the subject in the right spirit becomes filled 
with the true principle he will invariably reason along the 
right lines and come out right. Its methods do not in- 
volve new machinery, and in some things the methods are 
but variations of those in common use, but it does involve 
a new way of thinking, which is the foundation of the 
science. 

So soon as prejudice is wholly put aw^ay then will prog- 
ress in agricultural science be on a par with that in other 
more advanced lines. 



282 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MA^;UA>j 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



CROPS, MARKETS, PRICES. 

The farmer not only wants big crops but it is his desire 
to get the best price for the same. That which the crop 
brings, directly or indirectly, is the prime object to be ever 
kept in mind. 

There are a good many elements entering into the price 
question and men may easily make serious mistakes. Of 
course there may be at any time in almost any community 
some advantage gained by taking advantage of temporary 
or local conditions; but it must be remembered that the 
price of agricultural products is generally more unchang- 
ing through a long series of years than of any other class 
of commodities. Statistics have been kept by the com- 
mercial associations, including the price of agricultural pro- 
ducts as well as of other things, and compilation from these 
shows that the fluctuation in average value of farm pro- 
ducts from year to year and from decade to decade has 
not been great. It is gratifying that there has been a 
tendency for many years to a slight average increase in 
value. 

The theory that all would be lovely with the farmers 
if they could only form a trust or combine and artificially 
limit the production of farm staples so as to force prices 
up, or to hold grain and produce so that the marketing 
could be done with special reference to holding up the 
price, has little to support it. The notion is equally wrong 
that the farmer who manages to have a good crop when 



Campbell's soil culture manual 283 

all his neighbors have none, or that assumes that crop 
failure somewhere must be necessary to good prices at 
some other place. 

The ideal conditon is that of having good crops every 
year and in ail places. You can gain no permanent and 
enduring advantage by the misfortune of your neighbors. 

What is it that demoralizes prices and brings distress 
to farming and other industries? Not over-production, 
but lack of production. The poor crops your neighbor 
has will cause you to suffer in the end. 

The fact of the matter is that we shall never know a 
time when production will outrun demand and the markets 
of the world will be glutted. This might happen with one 
or two things, but not with things in general. More and 
more it is going to tax the ingenuity of man to provide for 
his own necessities and desires. The area of land available 
for agricultural purposes is limited and it will be nearly 
all made use of in some way in the very near future. The 
problem must ever be that of how to so increase production 
that there will be competence for all, then how to distribute 
this throughout the world. 

But under present conditions, with commercial war a 
perpetual thing, encouraged and guarded and supplied with 
weapons by our governments, there is a scramble for mark- 
ets. We of America set out to corral a desirable market 
for a certain line of goods, especially farm products, and 
have it well in hand when there comes a season when we 
cannot supply the demand, as was the case in the early 
'90's, and immediately others step in and take possession 
of the field. Then when we are ready to again furnish our 
I'ofmer customers with what they want we find that they 
\u',^e made arrangements elsewhere that are satisfactory 
fn them. Right there the evil effect of poor markets is 



284 Campbell's soil culture manual 

felt, not by those who lost at once but by all who are en- 
gaged in production. A market once lost by demoraliza- 
tion is hard to get back again. 

But in another way poor crops in a part of the area of 
production has an evil effect over all the area. The farmer 
is himself always a consumer. If he is prosperous he buys 
things. And as he buys things he helps to keep off the 
demand for -the products of many others in other indus- 
tries. Thus all become consumers and all propsper together. 
But with some of the farmers reducing their expenditures 
because of their temporary misfortunes by decreased yields, 
the total of demand for all the ordinary things of life is 
materially reduced. 

The true principle for the farmer is to strive to have 
good average crops and have them steadily all the time, 
and here it is that scientific soil culture plays its noble part. 
The greatest thing that is possible for any state or any 
nation or any section of country is to have assurance of 
good crops every year. If this is done the price question 
will soon adjust itself to conditions so that the market 
problem is less and less one to cause worry to the farmer. 
If there is a surplus, be it Ir.rge or small, a place will be 
found where it will be absorbed properly, and this once 
established will remain permanently. Everyone will re- 
joice in the good fortune of his neighbor. 

The real problem of prices and markets is that of how 
to guard against the distressing ups and downs of crop 
yields incident to the hit and miss style of farming which 
is partly guess work. 

Scientific soil culture gets at the root of the problem. 
It shows the way. It is directed toward making crops grow 
where they were not before grown and also, and this is most 
important of all, toward the making certain of good crop 



Campbell's soil culture manual 285 

every year where under the old system crop failures were 
inevitable at times. 

The condition which is desired is one of assurance of 
good crops, with the consequent assurance of fair and 
steady prices, and this state of affairs running through a 
series of years unchanged, not a fluctuating and uncertain 
condition with an occasional good crop sandwiched in be- 
tween several poor ones and some failures — and when this 
condition becomes general, as it will, there will be no more 
complaint of market demoralization and no desire to com- 
bine to limit crop production and exact high prices. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



WORLD WIDE FAME OF THIS WORK. 

It is a matter of genuine pride and satisfaction that there 
has come to be, even though it is after years of waiting, 
almost world wide recogniton of the truth of what we have 
been teaching as to the proper method of conducting farm 
operations on the semi-arid soils. Of course it is a matter 
which, from our standpoint, cannot be explained, why far- 
mers and students generally have been so slow to see the 
truth, but we make due allowance for the momentum of 
centuries of conservatism. 

But if recognition of the truth comes apparently very 
late it seems to be coming with added force and greater 
meaning. Within recent months we have had evidence of 
a desire to know more of the system coming from far off 
lands on the other side of the world, and there is a demand 
for some information on the subject in many countries. 
The system of scientific soil culture has forced itself to the 
attention of many of the best students and writers of the 
country. In the Century Magazine for July, 1906, there 
appeared a discussion of the whole subject by John L. 
Cowan, of Albuquerque, N. M. In the World's Work the 
same season appeared another similar article by Herbert 
Quick, the talented writer. William E. Curtis, a famous 
correspondent writing for the Chicago Record-Herald, told 
at length in July, 1905, of the work being done by the 
Campbell method in Kansas and elsewhere. The western 
newspapers have been filled with information on the sub- 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 287 

ject. The Northwestern Miller, of Minneapolis, in Novem- 
ber, 1906, gave five pages and over to a presentation of 
facts regarding the system from the pen of Mr. Cowan. 
Some excerpts from these various articles will show how 
the world is coming to regard the work. 

SALVATION OF THE DRY BELT. 

From the article by Herbert Quick in the World's Work 
Magazine the following excerpts are taken: 

Since Cain first tilled the soil, many a new thing has been 
seen in agriculture, but in the actual handling of the soil, 
perhaps not many. A picture of the year's work of the 
man who without irrigation successfully farms the semi- 
arid prairies of the ''Grat American Desert," however, 
shows some striking novelties, heralding perhaps an agri- 
cultural revolution. 

The achievements of Luther Burbank in plant breeding 
have recently held general attention. I am glad here to 
put forth the name of Mr. Burbank (at least in the generous 
emulation of those who are striving to conquer nature) — 
that of Hardy W. Campbell, a Vermont man who formerly 
lived in South Dakota and now lives in Lincoln, Neb. The 
originator of the ''Campbell Method" of ''Dry Farming," 
he is teaching the so-called arid west that it is not arid if 
it but uses properly, ordinary rainfall that its climate yields. 

Mr. Campbell, without irrigation, can make crops grow 
on hundreds of thousands of semi-arid square miles of 
"desert" that otherwise would be fruitless and flowerless 
except for the wild growths, sparse and unprofitable, indi- 
genous to such land and climate. In the natural habitat 
of the cactus, he grows wheat, corn, and vegetables. Be- 
tween the Missouri river and the mountains, "dry farm- 
ing" has become a phase of hope. 



288 Campbell's soil culture manual 

The Campbell method has fought its way to acceptance 
through its results only. Its first victory was won in 1894 
in Browri county, S. D., when Mr. Campbell grew 142 
bushels of potatoes per acre in competition with his uncon- 
verted neighbors, who undertook by old methods to sur- 
pass the new way, and met failure from severe drought. 
In the autumn Mr. Campbell's field was moist to a depth 
of six feet, though all others were dry as dust to an inde- 
finite depth. In October, 1895, the same field showed ten 
feet of moisture — a clear evidence of gain on the drouth. 

Mr.Campbell was testing his system patiently, and by 
true scientific methods, and this year sent many test tubes 
of earth to the department of Agriculture at Washington 
for moisture tests. The following table shows the re- 
sults of these tests from two fields: No. 1, under the 
Campbell method; No. 2, under ordinary tillage. Similar 
results are found in all these tests. The table covers the 
first ten tests of July, at the Hastings, Neb., station. 



Date 


Ins. rainfall 


Percentage 
moisture 


J of 






No. 1 


No. 2 


July 1st, 


None, 


18.49 


9.71 


" 3d, 


(( 


18.30 


9.68 


" 4th, 


(( 


18.30 


10.25 


" 5th, 


t( 


19.89 


9.16 


'' 6th, 


{( 


19.19 


10.33 


'' 7th, 


(C 


47.04 


9.85 


- 8th, 


1-16 inch, 


18.85 


10.00 


" 9th, 


None, 


18.37 


8.62 


'' 10th, 


K 


17.36 


8.90 


'' nth. 


11 


16.29 


8.23 



The significant thing shown in this table is the uniform' 
moisture of the Campbell fields, at the level most favorable 



jampbell's soil culture manual 289 

to plant growth, as well as its constant excess over the 
others. The writer has found the soil in Campbell's fields 
moist enough to be squeezed into a ball, while identical 
soil fifty feet away, cultivated by ordinary methods, would 
blow away in dust when released. 

The Campbell method is spoken of as the salvation of 
the dry belt. The work is an enormous one, that of chang- 
ing the traditional methods of plowing and harrowing and 
tilling of a whole farming population. The wonder is, 
not that his progress has been so slow, but that in the ten 
years of his active apostolate (for such his life has been) 
^his useful and patient man has a^ccomplished so much. 
results declared to be remarkable. 

William E. Curtis, traveler and author, went to Hill 
City, Kansas, in the summer of 1905, and from there 
wrote a two-column article for the Chicago Record- Herald 
in which he said: 

What is known as the Campbell method of '^dry farm- 
ing" is being practiced on the semi-arid plains of western 
Kansas and eastern Colorado with remarkable success. 
The results accomplished on several model farms, under 
the direction of the inventor, discoverer or promoter — 
whichever you prefer to call him — are remarkable, and 
are entitled to the respect of every one who is interested 
in the development of the high, dry plains between the 
Rocky mountains and the Missouri river. 

Any one who has doubts of the practicability of the 
Campbell system should go to Hill City, Kansas, and com- 
pare the crops on the Pomeroy farm with those upon the 
farms which surround it, ,for the fields of wheat, corn, oats, 
potatoes and everything else that is growing will be four 
or five times as great as will be the harvest on the other 
side of the fences. 



290 Campbell's soil culture manual 

Mr. Campbell has been working in North Dakota, South 
Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, for twenty years or more 
trying to induce farmers to adopt his plan of ''soil culture," 
as he calls it, and everywhere he has been, from the James 
river in the north to the Arkansas, he has been equally 
successful in producing without irrigation the same results 
that are usally expected with irrigation with compara- 
tively little more expense. There is no secret about it. 
The whole thing is simply the exercise of care and patience, 
and any man of ordinary intelligence can work it as well as 
a college professor could if he only learns how. 

The Pomeroy farm certainly proves the truth of Mr. 
Campbell's theories, or else he is a wizard. The orchard, 
five years old, is equal to any I have ever seen; the hedges 
that divide the fields and surround the garden are as high 
as the head of a man; the vegetable garden, the berry 
bushes, the flowers and the foliage are equal to any that 
you can find upon the best irrigated farm in California; 
while the wheat, corn and potatoes are simply perfect. 

The farm across the road looks skinny and shabby; 
the gaps Detween the rows of corn; the bald spots in the 
wheat, and the feeble poatoes look as if a conspiracy had 
been set up to furnish as striking a contrast as possible. 
From one field as Mr. Campbell says, he expects to har- 
vest fifty-six bushels of wheat to the acre by his system. 
On the other side of the fence, where the ordinary meth- 
ods have been used, it will not pan out more than seven 
or eight bushels, and it is the same soil and the same 
rainfall. 

essentially scientific farming. 

John L. Cowan, writing in the Century Magazine for 
July, 1906, gave something of what had been done, and he 
said: 



JAMPBELL'S soil culture MANUAij 291 

It has been demonstrated on many model farms main- 
tained by western railroads and on hundreds of private 
farms, that all that is necessary on the plains and in the 
inter-mountain parks and valleys is intelligently to make 
the most of the rains and snows that fall in order to grow 
as good crops as can be raised anywhere. In other words, 
farming methods must be adapted to natural conditions. 
This seems so simple and self-evident that the only wonder 
that men have been so slow in finding it out. It ought not 
to be hard to believe that lands that produce the rich 
buffalo and grama grasses of the plains without cultiva- 
tion, can be made to produce crops still more valuable 
with cultivation adapted to the soil and climate. 

However, what the National Department of Agricul- 
ture, the various state governmnts, and the great railroad 
corporations have at. last been made to see, has been dem- 
onstrated every season for twenty years consecutive by 
Mr. H. W. Campbell, of Lincoln, Nebraska, the pioneer 
''dry farmer" of arid America. In scores of places from 
the James river to the Arkansas he has been uniformly 
successful in producing without irrigation the same results 
that are expected with irrigation, with comparatively little 
additional expense, but not without more watchfulness 
and care. What western people have become accustomed 
to calling the '^ Campbell system of dry farming" co^^sists 
simply in tho exercise of intelligence, care, patience, and 
industry. 

Dry farming is essentiallv scientific farming, and for 
that reason the term used by Mr. Campbell, '^scientific 
soil culture," is perhaps, more truly descriptive than the 
popular term. Nevertheless, its principles can be, and are 
applied just as successfully by men who have as little of 
the education of the schools as they are by the college grad- 



292 Campbell's soil culture manual 

uates. However, no farmer in the arid belt need hope 
for even moderate success without unceasing diligence. 

Twenty years ago Mr. J. P. Pomeroy, now of Colorado 
Springs, acquired 30,000 acres of land in Graham county, 
western Kansas, and founded Hill City almost in the center 
of the tract. For fourteen years portions of this tract were 
cultivated by old-fashioned methods. In all that time 
only one good crop was harvested, that being in a season 
when the rainfall was abnormally large. He had heard of 
Mr. Campbell and his system of dry farming and sent for 
him, telling him to go ahead and shew him just what he 
could do on land on which profitable farming by ordinary 
methods had proven to be impossible. Mr. Campbell laid 
out a model farm on the very land that had been tried often 
with discouraging results. Last season the sixth successive 
crop was harvested. In the fourteen years in which old- 
fashioned methods were followed, thirteen failures were 
scored. In the six years in which the Campbell 
system has been on trial on the same lands, a crop failure 
has been unknown. The smallest yield of wheat per acre 
in that time has b€3n thirty-five bushels, while farmers 
close by have never obtained more than thirteen bushels 
per acre, and very rarely even that. The yields of corn, 
oats, potatoes, alfalfa, berries, small fruits, and vegetables- 
is equal to that obtained from the average irrigated farms 
around Greeley, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, and other 
parts of Colorado ''under the ditch.'' On this farm there 
is also a six-year-old orchard that is in prime condition, the 
trees being as large as eight-year-old trees in the famous 
fruit growing district of Palisades. A more complete 
vindication of all the claims made by the advocates of the 
practicability of farming on the plains without irrigate ^^n 
could not well be imagined. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 293 



CHAPTER XL. 



GOOD FARMING AND GOOD MORALS. 

Perhaps it is not fair to assert that for the preservation 
of the morals of a people dependence must be placed entirely 
on the farming class; but it is not going a bit too far to 
insist that as between good farming and poor farming 
there is a difference as wide as .the poles are separated in 
their relation to the rdorals of the people. 

Did you ever pass an old farm, with broken fences over- 
grown with weeds, with ramshackle sheds and a nouse 
with unmended roof, with exposed corn bins, and a few 
racing hogs browsing along the hedge rows? And if you. 
have, do you not recall that involuntarily you peeked 
around the corners expecting to find the head of the family 
in keeping with his surroundings and living a life not at all 
to be made use of as an example? Of course not every 
farmer struggling against odds on a half-barren farm is 
below the standard in methods of living. There may be 
high thinking and genuine love for all that is best in the 
world and this amid surroundings not at all congenial. 
But usually if there is a desire for the better life, there is 
some sign displayed by which the keen observer may 
know that conditions are but temporary. 

But you pause at the gate near'a modest cottage neatly 
painted, and about the place there is an air of neatness 
and cleanness and good living, and you expect to find, and 
usually do find, a family living the happy and contented 
life. 



294 CAMPBELL^S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

Now there is nothing that will go so far toward chang- 
, ing the life of a man or of a family to the better things as 
prosperity. Poverty is a demoralizing influence. Idleness 
is next of kin to sin. And idleness is closely associated 
with poor farming. Whatever tends to give the people 
more of the material comforts of life helps to raise them 
up. It is easier to be good when one has had a fine dinner. 

Scientific soil culture points the way to greater pros- 
perity on the farm. It means steady large results with no 
losses. It means that farming operations are reduced to 
a science. With an understanding of its principles and 
such application of the same as to produce the results 
which are always possible, it means the raising of the 
average of living to a higher plane. It means more home 
comforts, better farm equipment, finer houses and barns, 
good roads, telephone, and trolley lines, and above all else 
support of the schools and the churches. 

It is a most excellent thing for any community to give 
support to the schools and the churches. The benefits 
come in many ways. They are not all visionary. And a 
people who do support schools and churches are not the 
up-grade at all times. They help to better conditions in 
the cities and towns. They give to the cities the ablest 
of the men in all walks of life. But unless there is actual 
success in farm operations the influence nay be the other 
way. Discontent on the farm is a dangerous thing and has 
sent many a noble boy and girl to the city with high hopes 
of betterment which too often have proved a bitter failure. 

It is because of the fact that the state and the nation 
are vitally interested in the welfare of the farming popu- 
lation that public sentiment supports with hearty unanim- 
ity the expenditures of millions annually to improve the 
farming conditions. The state cannot be a good state 



Campbell's soil culture manual 295 

unleibcj its people are prosperous and contented. They 
need not be stupidly content with the idea that they have 
attained perfection, but they should have the content 
which comes to him who triumphs in what he undertakes. 
And so state and nation are alike lending a helping hand 
to the farmer. 

As a great moral influence we shall claim for scientific 
soil culture a place in the front rank. It leads all others 
because upon the quality and quantity of what is grown 
from the soil depends the magnitude and success of all 
branches of agricultural pursuits. 



Fair Investigation. — Agriculture demands and uco^rves 
all the investigation which is being given to it — it is in need 
of, and is worthy of, all the investigators whose services 
are being devoted to this greatest of all our industries; but 
let us remember that it is only a genius who can draw cor- 
rect conclusions from incomplete date or insufficient pre- 
mises; that we are to use all obtainable information to guide 
us, and that we are to work together as a unit for the better- 
ment of American agriculture. The work is greater than 
any man or any office. Let every man develop and mag- 
nify the line of work which he is called upon to perform, 
but let us neither decry nor ignore nor underestimate the 
value of any other good work. Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins, 
Illinois Universitjo 



296 Campbell's soil culture manual 

CHAPTER XLI. 
PROFIT OF SCIENTIFIC SOIL CULTURE 

The only way to determine just how profitable scientific 
soil culture is as compared with the old way is to make the 
test on the farm but we give here a 2-year comparison as a 
help to those who want to know the difference. The simple 
and direct application of scientific soil culture involves one 
crop in two years. This is not always the case, for it may 
be two crops in three years or three in four. But assuming 
that to get ideal results it is necessary to grow just one crop 
in two years, we may then compare this with two ordinary 
crops in the same two years and reach a conclusion that 
will mean something. 

We give below a fair estimate of the cost, results and 
profits of a 2-year period under the scientific method and 
the old way. Average prices are paid for labor in both 
cases and we have tried to be conservative. It may be 
felt by some that we have placed the wheat yield too high 
under the scientific method, but we have really discounted 
actual results and made allowance for imperfections. - 

Wheat yields in the dry country have been, under the 
Campbell method, as much as 60 to 67 bushels to the acre. 
We have figured on 50 bushels. But even if this should be 
cut materially there still is margin for a nice profit. All 
will depend upon whether or not the work is rightly done. 
We give a fair estimate on the cost and profits of two fields 
of 100 acres each, one by the old method and one by the 
Campbell method as follows: 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 297 

BY SCIENTIFIC SOIL CULTURE. 

Double disking in Juiy, one man, four horses, 45c an acre. . . . $45.00 

Harrowing twice over af^er rains, 10c per acre each time 20.00 

Double disking in early spring 45 . 00 

Harrowing three times after rains 30 . 00 

Plowing 7 inches deep in July 200 .00 

•Subsurface packing, once over 25.00 

Harrowing four times after rains 60.00 

Seeding with drills 40 . 00 

Thirty-four bushels seed wheat at $1 34 .00 

Harrowing twice in spring with lever harrow 20 . 00 

Harvesting 60 . 00 

Four hundred pounds twine at 14c 56 .00 

Threshing 5000 bushels at 7c . 350 .00 

Marketing, 3c 150 .00 

Total expenses two years $1,135 .00 

'Credit by 5000 bushels at 80c $4,000 .00 

Less total expenses 1,135.00 

Profit ^2,865.00 

BY ORDINARY METHOD. 

Plowing in August and September. $200 .00 

Harrowing once 10 . 00 

:Seeding 40 . 00 

One hundred bushels seed 100 . 00 

Harvesting 60 . 00 

■One hundred fifty pounds twine, 14c 21 .00 

Threshing 1300 bushels 7c 91 .00 

Marketing, 3c 39 .00 

Total expenses first year $561 . 00 

Same for two years 1,122 . 00 

Yield first year 1300 bushels at 80c 1,040 .00 

Tield second 1300 bushels at 80c 1,040 .00 

Total income for two years . 52,080 . 00 

Total expense two years . 1,122 .00 

Profit $958^00 

;Net profit Campbell method one crop in two years $2,865.00 

-Net profit old method two crops in two years 958 . 00 

.Difference in favor of Scientific Soil Culture $1,937.00 



298 Campbell's sojl culture manual 



CHAPTER XLII. 



CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMENT. 

Under date of July 5, 1906, Charles F. Mills, editor 
of the Farm and Home, Springfield, 111., in acknowledging 
receipt of a copy of the 1905 Manual, wrote: 

''My attention was called to your methods of dry 
farming in the July issue of the Century. We hope to be 
able to send you some orders for your Manual which will 
be offered as a premium. Your work is deserving cf the 
highest commendation." 

FINEST EVER. 

F. H. Oberthier, secretary and general manager of the 
Comanche Cotton Oil Company, Comanche, Texas, wrote: 

''I have read and reread your Manual and I think it is 
the finest work of the kind I ever saw. I think every 
farmer in the semi-arid west should study this book. I 
wouldn^t take $1,000 for what it has taught me." 

INCREASED LAND VALUE. 

Herman S. Youtsey, writing from Fort Collins, Col., 
Dec. 10th, 1905, said: 

''I have been reading what one of the wiseacres has to 
say in defining the Campbell system of soil culture and as 
usual the most conspicuous point in the article is what he 
don't know about the system. Meeting so many articles 
of this character in which improper notions are inculcated 
and knowing the. importance of a correct knowledge of 



Campbell's soil culture manu.i»l 299' 

the Campbell methods, I am led to the conclusion that 
some more effective plan of getting your Manual of soil 
culture into the hands of the people should be devised. I 
have frequently said that your Manual is worth its weight 
in gold to any man who tills the soil whether he farms 
wthout irrigation or with it. No reasonable consideration 
could induce me to part with the knowledge I have gained 
from your writing, if such a thing was possible, for by 
following in the way you have indicated I have caused 
land costing $3.00 an acre to yield a net income of $18.00 
an acre in one year and aside from the question of a mone- 
tary consideration, it has lifted fa^m labor from mere, 
drudgery to the field of scientific pursuit.-' 

GREAT DISCOVERY. 

John E. Leet, after years of careful study of the sub- 
ject, wrote in the Denver Republican: 

''The Campbell system is a glorious success. It is not 
a mere wet season humbug, destined to collapse with the 
next series of dry years. I have doubted, watched, inves- 
tigated constantly, for nine months, and have become abso- 
lutely convinced that it is the greatest agricultural discov- 
ery of recent history.' It will rapidly settle the fertile, 
sunny, beautiful healthful rolling plains of eastern Colorado 
and western Kansas with a dense and thrifty population." 

WEALTH INCREASED. 

L. J. Clinton, director of the Agricultural experimer^t 
station at Storrs, Conn., writing January 21, 1907, in regard 
to the Manual, said: 

"I know something of the work you have done in re- 
claiming what was known formerly as 'the great American 
desert,' and I believe as a result of your instruction in soil 



300 Campbell's soil culture manual 

culture work that the wealth of the country has been very 
materially increased. I shall await the arrival of your 
book with considerable interest." 

IN SOUTH DAKOTA. 

R. J. Mann, president of the Clark county National 
Bank, at Clark, S. D., ordered for free distribution among 
his bank customers 500 of the Campbell Soil Culture Alma- 
nacs, issued in 1907, and he wrote: 

"I have been studying your literature the last year and 
am very much interested in it, and this is the cause of my 
ordering these almanacs. I know, or believe, you are 
doing a good work and would be glad to see your work go 
into the farmers' hands, and I hope that distributing 
these almanacs will prove what you feel and that I believe 
can be done in this country with good farming." 

W. M. Wiley, manager of the Arkansas Valley Sugar 
Beet aiid Irrigated land company, at Holly, Col., writing 
to Mr. Campbell, said: . 

"Although I have never met you I have become greatly 
impressed with what is called the Campbell system of 
farming. In 1902 we had to farm the lands -under the 
Amity canal without water, and by carrying out a modi- 
fied system of your views we succeeded in making a crop 
practically without irrigation, and it was a good crop, too. 
This served to attract my attention more than ever to your 
system. I have told several officials of the Santa Fe Rail- 
road that the arid west could be better and sooner put into 
cultivation by following your theories or the practices re- 
commended by you than by getting the government to 
spend oceans of money for irrigation works, because no 
matter how much money was spent in irrigation, the amount 
of land which the water would cover must necessarily be 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 301 

infinitesmal compared to the vast area to be cultivated; 
but that if they would adopt your plan and establish some 
model farms under your direction something could be done 
in cultivating the country. I should like very much to 
meet and have a talk with you. I should like particularly 
to get the U. S. government interested in your methods. '^ 

BIG RESULTS. 

J. P. Pomeroy, of Colorado Springs, under date of Sep- 
tember 10, 1904, writes to C. E. Wantland, Denver: ''We 
cultivate entirely under Professor Campbell's plan. This 
season the wheat crop in our section was practically a fail- 
ure, which was the result of the failure of our farmers to put 
in their crops in time, and to properly cultivate; this was 
clearly proven by the fact that on our farm we raised over 
forty bushels per acre, and from less than one-half bushel 
of seed planted. Surely the time must soon come, when 
our people will have realized that this system absolutely 
assures the production of regular crops every year through 
western Kansas and Nebraska, as well as eastern Colorado." 



The Campbell method is spoken of as the salvation of 
the dry belt. The work is an enormous one, that of chang- 
ing the traditional methods of plowing and harrowing and 
tilling, of a whole farming population. The wonder is, not 
that his progress has been so slow, but that in the ten years 
of his active apostolate (for such his life has been) this useful 
and patient man has succeeded in doing so much. — Herbert 
Quick, in World's Work. 



;302 Campbell's soil culture manual 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



TOOLS FOR THE FARM. 

Since publishing our first manual in 1901, we have 
been asked many times for a list of the implements we 
' consider best adapted to general farming on the prairie of 
the great semi-arid belt. This, we realize, is a delicate 
subject on which to give advice, therefore, we simply give 
.a list of such tools as we bought for the Pomeroy Model 
Farm at Hill City, the Burlington Model farm at Holdredge 
and for other farms. 

For ordinary sized farms we have four-horse tools, or 
■larger, as far as it is possible. To decrease the cost of 
production adds profits, the same as to increase the yield. 
When one man can turn over two fourteen-inch furrows 
or twenty-eight inches by driving four horses instead of 
sixteen inches by driving three horses, you are not only 
decreasing the cost of plowing over thirty per cent, but are 
•getting a field plowed in six days that would take ten days 
with the sixteen inch plow. This is an advantage in many 
ways and what is true of plowing is proportionately true 
of all other farm work. 

The following tools make a very complete outfit for 
four good heavy work horses, and with these horses and 
tools eighty to one hundred acres can be handled by our 
plan on the high level priries of the more arid portions of 
the semi-arid belt where the soils are of the usual sand- 
;loam formation. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 303 

list of tools. 

One gang plow, two fourteen-inch. 

One four-horse disk harrow. 

One four-horse improved harrow. 

One four-horse combination weeder. 

One four-horse Campbell sub-packer. 

One two-row cultivator. 

One one-horse cultivator. 

In addition to these tools comes such planters' drills 
and harvesters as shall be needed for the crops the farmer 
may wish to raise. 

The list of tools is such as has been found most desir- 
able for securing the best possible physical condition of 
■*"he soil at the least expense. 

THE SUB-SURFACE PACKER. 

There are few farm implements of high merit that have 
had the struggle for recognition that the sub-surface packer 
has. It was first put upon the market in 1895 and about 
100 sold. A few more sold each succeeding year, but no 
great numbers until the year 1905. 

The principal drawback was the fact that it was a 
new tool, with a new mission, backed by a new principle, 
and every conceivable theory has been advanced to side- 
track its popularity mainly on the ground that the ideal 
physical condition brought out by its proper use was not 
necessary, s,nd as the machine cost from $25.00 to $45.00 
according to size and distance from factory, the public 
generally were quite inclined to credit all theories of the 
skeptics. 

But the machine kept persistently at its mission, prov- 
ing the marvelous results to be gained from the new prin- 
ciples involved, thereby steadily gaining recognition until 



r?04 Campbell's soil culture manual 

the year 1905, when there were more sub-surface pacicers 
sold than in all the previons nine years combined. Then 
the factory was compelled to expand its facilities and the 
demand continued to increase until the sales for the year 
1906 were equivalent to more than twice the total number 
sold not only in 1905 but from January 1st, 1895, to Jan- 
uary 1st, 1906. Just before going to press we learn that 
the orders received at the factory for the month of Jan- 
uary, 1907, were nearly half as many as the .entire sales 
for 1906. 

^ There is but one reason for this enormous increase in 
the sales of the sub-surface packer, and that is, that this 
new machine has accomplished its new mission by proving 
through practical demonstrations that the new principle 
of a thoroughly pulverized and absolutely firm sub-stratum, 
or root and seed bed, and its perfect connection with the 
subsoil below, is one of the most vital conditions for suc- 
cessful crop growing, and the one point to be fully recog- 
nized in preparing the soil for the purpose of growing large 
yields of all kinds of cereals. 



An unassuming fellow townsman of mine, Mr. H. W 
Campbell, has made a discovery worthy to rank him with 
Watt, Hudson, Eli Whitney and Edison — that of so stor- 
ing up water in the soil to be cultivated as to make a very 
meager precipitation suffice to grow a crop and that with 
no irrigation. — E. Benjamin Andrews, Chancellor Neb- 
raska State University. 



Campbell's soil culture manual 305 



CHAPTER XLIV. 



SOME HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT. 

The Northwestern Miller, in issues in November, 1906r 
contained three very complete and satisfactory articles 
upon the Campbell system written by John L. Cowan, in 
which an outside view of the work was given, and from 
the standpoint of an investigator coming to the subject 
without prejudice. Below is given some portions of this 
largely for the bit of history which Mr. Cowan wove into 
the narrative: 

There has been no more important agricultural develop- 
ment within recent years than the sudden rise in popular 
approval of the Campbell System of Scientific Soil Culture 
— or, as the public prefers to call it, "Dry Farming.'' Dur- 
ing two months of the past summer, it was given more 
magazine and newspaper publicity than in the twenty years 
before, through which the originator of the system toiled 
to bring it to perfection and fought for recognition. 

The one thing that has finally compelled endorsement 
is its results. It has ''delivered the goods," and few people 
will refuse to credit the evidence of their own senses. Con- 
sequently, the great trans-continental railroad systems own- 
ing land grants have vied with ten thousand land agents in 
their efforts to inform the public about this new system of 
farming on the "dry lands'' without irrigation. 

The National Department of Agriculture and the vari- 
ous state agricultural colleges have not endorsed or given 
official recognition to the Campbell system. They have 



306 Campbell's soil culture manual 

recgonized its results, if not in official documents, in the 
far more significant form of establishing numerous experi- 
ment stations on the high, dry plains that they have always 
hitherto regarded as hopelessly arid. There they are de- 
monstrating along independent lines the very facts to the 
proving of which Hardy W. Campbell has devoted more 
than twenty years of his life. This belated government 
action, taken when the results of the Campbell system 
could no longer be denied or ignored, is, in fact, the strong- 
est endorsement that the Campbell system of farming with- 
out irrigation in the semi-arid region could receive. * * 

Mr. Campbell's own account of the circumstances thai 
started his investigations is interesting, and hitherto un- 
published. In 1882, he harvested one of the greatest wheat 
crops that had ever been cut and threshed in the Dakotas, 
obtaining 12,000 bushels from 300 acres of land, in Brown 
county. South Dakota. The next year, his crop of 260 
acres of the same land was- an absolute failure, while the 
remaining 40 acres returned a good yield. Here was a 
puzzling proposition, as all the land had received the same 
treatment and had been seeded at practically the same 
time. To discover the reason for the widely differing har- 
vests became, for a time, Mr. Campbell's ruling passion. 

He recalled that the record-breaking crop of 12,000 
bushels had been secured after spring plowing of the land. 
Also that the 260 acres that failed to yield a crop worth 
harvesting the subsequent season had been plowed in the 
fall, while the 40. acres from which a good crop had been 
obtained had been plowed in the spring. The conclusion 
seemed inevitable that the secret of obtaining good crops 
lay in the spring plowing. 

He talked it over with his neighbors, and everyone 
agreed that the virtues of spring plowing for spring wheat 



Campbell's soil culture manual 307 

had been incontrovertibly demonstrated. Fortunately for 
the farmers of Brown county, they realized that it would 
be impossible for them to plow all their wheat land in the 
spring in time to get their seeding done: but everyone re- 
duced the amount of fall plowing to its lowest possible 
terms. Never before or since was the percentage of wheat 
land in that neighborhood plowed in the spring so great. 
When harvest time came, everyone had the same result: 
the crop was all but a total failure on the land that had 
been plowed in the spring; but that plowed the preceding 
fall returned a good yield. 

Campbell, the man from Vermont, where people are 
born asking questions, and never outgrow the habit, was 
not discouraged. He was wiUing to admit, with his neigh- 
bors, that the whole secret of the production of good crops 
did not lie in the time of plowing. Where he differed from 
his neighbors was in his refusal to believe that the secret 
vas past finding out. 

Even at that early stage of his investigations, he T>vV 
iieved it possible to conserve in the soil sufficient moisture 
to mature a crop, even in years of extreme drouth such as 
brought disaster to the farmers of the plains with discour- 
aging frequency. The problem to be worked out was how 
to place the soil in the proper physical condition for the 
reception and storage of moisture. For the reception and 
ready percolation of moisture, it required no extended train 
of reasoning- to teach him that the soil must be kept loose 
and porous by thorough cultivation. 

How to keep the moisture there, was a widely different 
matter. The common expedient was the use of the roller, 
in oi \er to compact the soil and prevent too rapid evapora- 
tion. Experiment convinced him that this was of little 
value, because its effects were confined to two or three 



308 CAMBPELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

inches of top soil. Further experiment showed him that 
it defeated the very end it was designed to promote, in- 
creasing the movement of moisture from below up into the 
compacted stratum, where it speedily passed off by eva- 
poration. While perfectly true that a plowed field that 
has been rolled shows the presence of considerably more 
moisture near the surface that can be found in one that 
is due solely tO the exhaustion of the supply that has per- 
colated down into the subsoil. That supply is needed far 
more urgently to carry the growing crop over the pro- 
tracted heat and probable drouth of summer than to aid 
in the germination of seed. The use of the roller, therefore,, 
was abandoned, as promoting the early exhaustion rather 
than the conservation of moisture. 

In 1885, he designed his first sub-soil packer, constructed 
somewhat after the form of a grain drill, with teeth, or pack- 
ing devices that slanted backward, penetrating the soil to 
a depth of several inches, tending to squeeze the earth be- 
tween them closer together. This gave encouraging re- 
sults as a crop producer, and frequent tests of the soil, com- 
pared with tests of adjacent lands not thus packed, proved 
that it did conserve the moisture, although not as efficiently 
as was desirable. The use of this implement proved im- 
practicable, for the reason that the friction was too great 
and it required too much power to work it to render it ad- 
aptable for general farm use. Nevertheless, the experi- 
ments made with it were of great value, proving that the 
packing of the sub-soil (not of the surface) would conserve 
c^he moisture. 

To give the record of the hundreds of experiments that 
have been conducted since 1885 would not now be possible. 
Even if possible, that record would be tedious, uninterest- 
ing and unimportant. Equally unimportant would be an 



Campbell's soil culture manual 309 

account of Ms efforts to remedy the defects in his early edu- 
cation that so seriously hampered him in the prosecution 
of a strictly scientific investigation along original lines. 
Many of the things that he had to learn by patient experi- 
ment would have been taught him by the schools, or could 
have been reasoned out had he been thoroughly grounded 
at the start in scientific methods. Perhaps, however- '■^ 
his idea had been conventionalized by too much of the sci- 
ence of college curricula he might have accepted the dictum 
that the reclamation of the semi-arid lands was impossible, 
and the Campbell system would never have been born. 

After giving much more of the detail history of the 
years of labor which resulted in the development of the 
system Mr. Cowan continued: 

Some have gone so far as to assert that most of the 
methods taught oy Mr. Campbell were advocated by Jethro 
Tull, a hundred and twenty-five years ago. Inasmuch as 
Jethro Tull never visited America and probably never heard 
of the American plains, it would be remarkable indeed if 
he had devised a system of agricultural procedure suited 
to conditions there. 

It is, of course, true that many of the facts of the Camp- 
bell system were known long before Mr. Campbell's time. 
Some of the methods used are applicable to farming the 
whole world over, and have been practiced for generations. 
Some of the processes have been worked out under the 
pressure of necessity by hundreds, or perhaps, thousands, 
of farmers on the plains. If Campbell had done no more 
than collect, organize and classify these disconnected facts 
and methods into a coherrent system of practice adapted to 
conditions in the semi-arid belt, he would have accom- 
plished a work of the very highest utility. 

He has done much more than that. He has adopted 



310 -i^ampbell's soil culture manual 

nothing on mere hearsay or authority. Every principle 
advocated by him, he has tested, not once, nor in one place, 
but many times, in widely separated localities, in seasons 
of greatly differing rainfall and temperature, throughout 
the plains region from the James river valley to the Texas 
Panhandle. In addition, there are principles of soil cul- 
ture and methods of procedure that unquestionably origin- 
ated with him. One of these is that of ''summer culture'* 
on newly broken prairie land, before any attempt is made 
to grow a crop. Anyone who breaks prairie lands, and 
plants them without first devoting a full season to careful 
cultivation in order to get the soil in the proper physical 
condition for the promotion of plant growth, and in order 
to store a sufficient amount of moisture within reach of 
the plant roots to carry the growing crop through a pro- 
tracted drouth, is simply inviting failure should a season 
of unusual drouth follow. 

Another feature that originated with Mr. Campbell, 
which he regards of vital importance, is the sub-soil packer. 
This is an absolutely new farming implement, the essential 
feature consists of a series of sharp, wedge-shaped wheels, 
that cut into the ground, and literally wedge the portions 
between them together. 

These wheels exert both a lateral and a downward pres- 
sure, accomplishing a number of desirable results. They 
elimnate the air spaces left by overturning the furrow slice 
along the bottom and the sides of preceding furrows; press 
the earth firmly around the weeds, clods and stubble; aid 
in pulverizing the soil, thus increasing its capillary attrac- 
tion and its water-holding capacity; and, at the same time, 
they leave the surface soil loose and in condition to prevent 
imnecessary loss of moisture through evaporation. 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 311 



CHAPTER XLV. 



CORRESPONDENCE COURSES OF STUDY. 

There has not been any development in educational 
hnes in recent years to equal in extent and importance that 
which relates to the use of correspondence or mail courses 
of study. Every one has become familiar with the mail 
order mercantile house which is prepared to do business 
with the individual consumer anywhere in the country. 
The mail routes of Uncle Sam reach into every settlement 
of the country. They cover the vast prairies as well as 
penetrate into the deep woods of the timbered regions. The 
facilities for communication between people are not better 
for the residents of the cities than for the residents of the 
country. Great mercantile houses have taken advantage 
of this to establish communication with consumers direct, 
to sell to them direct, and to transact all their business by 
mail. There is some prejudice against this because of the 
unquestioned fact that here is a form of competition that 
is injurious to local business and therefore- retards rather 
than aids in building up local trading communities. But 
the mail order business is a reality. 

Another extension of this same work and we have the 
correspondence course of study. By and through private 
enterprise this plan has grown to great proportions in recent 
years. There are correspondence courses in nearly every- 
thing. They teach science, literature, art, trades, mechan- 
ics, chemistry, pharmacy, bookkeeping, surveying, draught- 
ng, engineering, writing, weaving, electricity, etc. As a 



312 Campbell's soil culture manual 

result of this work it has been placed within the reach of 
thousands of boys and girls to secure special education they 
desire without the great expense of attending some school 
or college in a distant city. The son of a poor mechanic 
struggling for a living in a city factory becomes ambitious 
to learn a useful trade or science, and his only time is that 
which most boys use for play-time. But his ambition leads 
him to take up a correspondence course of study, and in the 
long evenings at home he pores over these books until he 
has mastered his subject. The result is that a great engi- 
neer, or inventor, or contractor, or business man is devel- 
oped. No matter how many great colleges or universities 
might have been founded, this development of the poor 
boy who must labor while he learns would never have been 
possible but for the correspondence course. 

The theory of the correspondence course system is the 
taking of the school into the home. It is not possible for 
any great proportion of the ambitious boys and girls of the 
country to take advantage of our schools of higher educa- 
tion. To many millions of them it is denied because of 
various circumstances. They have not the time, they have 
have not the preliminary preparation, they cannot afford 
it, they do not know how to get into the colleges. These 
shut-out boys and girls are just as important to the country 
as those for whom the college doors open. The corres- 
pondence course of study takes the college right to these 
boys and girls. It opens the way for higher education to 
millions who would otherwise have no such opportunity. 

So valuable is this principle that it is receiving state 
recognition. Much of the development of the correspond- 
ence course plan is due to private enterprise. All honor to 
those who have been pioneers in this work. But it has 
been taken up by such public institutions as for instance, 



Campbell's soil culture manual 313 

the Armour Institute, of Chicago, in recognition of the fact 
that it ought to be largely a public work. It is being taken 
up by the great agricultural and industrial colleges of the 
country. Legislatures are making appropriations for carry- 
ing on the work. It is only a matter of time until many of 
the general branches will be taught in this way under state 
supervision. 

There have been prepared a number of courses in general 
agriculture, and some of these of great merit. It is a little 
strange that the one subject which more than any other 
lends itself readily to the correspondence course idea has 
been neglected until the last — agriculture. There can be 
no teaching of agriculture away from the farm. Actual 
contact with the soil is essential in the teaching of agricul- 
ture. No man can learn to farm by poring over books. 
But if in the poring over books he has opportunity to go 
out every day and apply 'in practical way that which he is 
learning, then much may be learned of great value from the 
books. It is because of this that a correspondence course 
in agriculture seems especially appropriate. The farmer 
is less likely than any other to find opportunity to get away 
from his work and to take up special courses of study in the 
colleges. He seldom has the preliminary preparation so 
that he caii get into the agricultural colleges. But he does 
have some time for study and he generally has the disposi- 
tion to study and to learn. The correspondence course, 
when it comes to the farmer, comes to one who can make 
the greatest possible use of the same. 

But most of the correspondence courses as prepared not 
only by corporations making a specialty of this work but 
by the colleges and universities, are distinctly intended to 
take boys and girls from the farms and to put them into 
the workshops of the cities. It is not very difficult to lead 



31 ^ Campbell's soil culture manual 

the farm residents to feel that in some other field of activity 
the chance of success is better than in their own. That is 
why the farmers are so often approached with suggestions 
of learning, through correspondence courses, something 
that will fit them for other work. 

As a matter of fact, the farmer can gain most from a 
correspondence course with direct relation to his own work. 
The time has passed for sneering at the so-called book- 
farmer. The college bred farm superintendent is a reality 
and a success. Men who are making a study of farming 
with special reference to well established principles are 
taking the lead. The average farmer does his work well, 
and he succeeds fairly well, but as a matter of fact, he might 
do a little better by knowing some things. He gains a great 
deal by the study of farm papers and magazines, but he 
too often treats their advice lightly. 

What is needed for the farmer in these days is some 
method by which there can be brought right home to him 
all the science and all the achievement of the colleges, the 
results of special study and investigation, the lessons of 
innumerable experiments, and to do this in a way that will 
appeal to him as something practicable. He should be able 
to gain knowledge of a kind that is useful. No theory 
should be presented to him without a purpose. Nothing 
should be given him that has not a practical side. It is 
well he should understand the science of the soil physics 
and seed germination and plant development and all that 
— but he should understand all this with special reference 
to making his own crops bigger and better. The philosophy 
of farming is all very well, but the essential thing is to 
accomplish great results. Now it is entirely possible that 
through the correspondence course of study method the 
fariPer may be given the essentials of his science in such a 



CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 315 

way that he can immediately apply them to the problems 
just before him. The farmer is in a better position to profit 
by and through a correspondence course than any other. 

The extension of the rural route service has brought 
every farm in the country up next to the city. 

In order to meet the demand for further and more def- 
inite instruction in the principles of scientific soil culture 
there is in preparation a complete correspondence course 
in agriculture having special reference at all times to this 
branch of the subject. This work is being prepared by H. 
W. Campbell, and under his personal direction, and as soon 
as it is ready for use the fact will be made known to the 
public. Those who take this correspondence course will 
have many benefits, such as the advantage of personal 
correspondence with the editor, the results of scientific in- 
vestigation and personal and practical instruction. 

In this connection a work is now being carried on that 
is sure to be of the greatest advantage to all persons in- 
terested at all in the subject. At the time this is written 
a number of model or experimental farms are in operation 
in various states of the west. These are farms on which 
are being carried on the best principles of scientific tillage 
under the personal direction of Mr. Campbell. The soil 
has been fitted in accordance with the most approved 
methods. All the experience of the past 25 years has been 
drawn upon to make thfs:; farms successful. They are in 
the hands of competent persons. An exact record is being 
kept, and the results will be carefully computed. The 
outcome will be the collection of data regarding scientific 
tillage that will be invaluable to the farmers of the dry 
country. At the same time a number of other farms are 
being opened and secured. The sole object in these farms 
is to carry on this educational work. They are not operated 



316 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 

for profit nor as a side line for speculative purposes, and 
they are kept free from the influences that might tend to 
exaggerate the results for selfish reasons. The persons who 
take the correspondence course will be the greatest gainers 
from this educational and demonstrative work. 

Since the first edition of this book was printed there has 
also been started, in response to an almost universal de- 
mand, a monthly magazine called Campbell's Scientific 
Farmer, which is devoted wholly to the teaching of the 
principles of scientific soil culture. This is not a general 
farm paper nor a household paper, but a special journal 
devoted to one line of farming or one branch of agriculture, 
just as a stock breeder's journal or a horticultural magazine 
or a publication devoted to forestry or irrigation. This 
Campbell's Scientific Farmer will therefore supplement the 
great work in which we have been engaged many years, 
by carrying direct to the people current information as 
to what is done and is being done in the various portions of 
the country with regard to soil culture methods best adapted 
to the dry country or to dry conditions. 

Everywhere it is coming to be recognized that agricul- 
ture is a great science and that it is one of the things about 
which there is always much to learn. The movement back 
to the farms is genuine, and it has a reason. But if there 
is to be a movement back to the farms it should be intelli- 
gently directed. More than that, the movement should 
have a solid foundation. In the semi-arid portions of the 
countries lie the greatest possibilities. Those who make 
themselves perfectly familiar with every question which 
may arise in regard to the semi-arid region are those who 
will achieve greatest success. 



INDEX. - 317 

INDEX. 

Advantages of Semi-Arid Region, XVII, 130. 

Agricultural Science, Progress in, 279. 

Air in the Soil, XIV, 111; nitrogen as plant food, 112; rain crust an:l how brc.ken up 
113; shutting out the air, 113, 115. 

Alfalfa, XXV, 226; plan of seeding, 227; preparing fields for, 229. 

Arbor Lodge, 244, 245. 

Arboriculture, XXVHI, 241. 

Arid plants, seeking new, 232. 

Barnyard Manures, XIX, 148. 

Basis of Prosperity, IV, 24. 

Beet Culture with Irrigation, 220; without irrigation, 225. 

Beets, sugar, growing, 218; modern factory, 221; under Campbell system, 223. 

Blowing of the lighter soils, 178. 

Burning stubble, 195, 

Burlington farm, model, 16; results, 256. 

Campbell, H. W., portrait, frontispiece; at dry farming congress, 297; history of 
his work, 305. 

Campbell system, developed, 7; vegetables in Colorado, 29; with sugar beets, 223; 
corn, 167, 171; world-wide fame, 286; in irrigation, 235; commended by Mor- 
ton, 246; results, 255; domain, 276; at dry farming congress, 297; history, 305; 
in correspondence course, 311. 

Capillary attraction, illustrated, 118. 

Century Magazine on Campbell system, 290. 

Check row planting, 160. 

Climate, no change in, 274. 

Colorado, eastern, wheat, 190; results of crops, 257; corn in, 25. 

Conditions changing by reason of good farming, 274. 

Crops, markets, and prices, XXXVIII, 282. 

Corn growing, XX, 156. 

Corn, in Colorado, 25; root development, 165; by Campbell method, 167, 171; area 
for, 170; testing seed, 172; use of lister, 158. 

Correspondence course in Soil culture, XLV, 311. 

Correspondence and comment, XLII, 298. 

Cowan, John L., in Century, on Campbell system, 290. 

Curtis, Wm. E., on Campbell system, 289. 

Cultivation, of the soil, XVII, 137; late, of trees, 209; of potatoes, 202; time of, 144; 
result of good, 166, 

Cultivators, 169. 

r'ulture, summer vs. summer fallow, 76. 
)eep cultivation and root development, 200. 
)epths of seeding, proper, 185; effect of different, 185. 

^isk harrow, VII, 37; when to use, 38; after harvest, 39; following the harvester, 39; 
size of, to use, 42. 

Disking, effect of, 48; in early spring, 177. 

Diversified farming, 252. 

Domain of soil culture, XXXVI, 276. 

Drills, 178; kinds of grain, 181; seeding with, lgg„ 

Drawbacks to humid region, 133. 



318 INDEXo 



Dry seasons, 273. 

Dust blanket explained, 247. 

Economy in seed, 153. 

Essentially scientific farming, 290. 

Evaporation, XVI, 123; danger of, 141; loss at the surfac3, 126; greatest (j_ament 

of waste, 138. 
Fall plowing old land, 51. 
Feasting time, Colorado melons, 21. 
Fertility of the soil, 99; elements of, 105. 
Following harvester with disk, 39. 
Free homes and greater crops, 27. 
Germination, quick, 70; of wheat, 194. 
Getting most out of the farm, XXX, 251. 
Good farming and good morals, XL, 293. 
Grain, kinds of drills, 181; stooling of, 180, 266; scientific condition for, 268; winter 

killing of, 263. 
Growing potatoes, XXII, 197. 
Hansen, Prof. N. C, on new plants, 232. 
Harvesting wheat fifty years ago, 188. 
Harvest, after, 189. 
Harvester, following with disk, 39. 
Harrowing, time of, 187; spring wheat, 186. 
History of the movement, XLIV, 305. 

Hopkins, Prof. Cyril G., on soils, 101; on fair investigation, 295= 
How to use the Manual, II, 15. 
Humid regions, drawbacks, 133. 
Ideal farmer, the. III, 19. 
Ideal farming country, 135. 

Increase of products luider soil culturej 259. , 

Inevitable dry seasons, XXXV, 273. 

Introduction, I, 5. « 

Irrigation, XXVII, 235. 
Kansas experience, 259, 260. 
Keeping mulch in condition, 146. 
Kilpatrick ranch, 70; results, 159. 
King, Prof. F. H., experiments in soils, 62, 126. 
Live stock on the farm, 253. 
Listing, wheat, 183; corn, 158. 
Look into the future, VI, 32. 

Manure, application, 149; permanent effects, 152; modern spreader, 154, 
Moisture, saving of, 141; watching it, 161. 
Montana wheat without irrigation, 12, 34. 
Morals and good farming, 293. 

Morton, J. Sterling, portrait, 242; on Campbell's work, 246. 
Mulch, keeping in condition, 146. 
Nitrogen as plant food, 112. 
North Platte station, 79. 
Over-production, 283. 
Percolation, or getting water down into the sub-soil, XV, 117; capillary attraction 

illustrated, 118; how water stored in soil, 119. 



INDEX. " 319 

Physical condition of the soil, XI, 91; time to work soil, 94; perfect soil conditions, 

96; condition, 239. 
Planting, check row, 160; with lister, 161. 
Plowing, VIII, 44; spring plowing old land, 45; when, 45; effect of disking, 48; 

proper depth, 50; fall plowing old land, 51; breaking new prairie land, 54; 

even furrows, 53; fall breaking, 55. 
Pomeroy farm, results, 67, 89, 114, 171, 255; wheat crop on, 193; farm trees, 207, 

210, 215. 
Potatoes, growing, 197; preparing soil for, 199; seed and planting, 201; variety of, 

202; cultivation of, 202. 
Practical results, XXXI, 255; at Hill City, 255; at Holdrege, 256, in Colorado, 

257; at Greenfield, Kan., 259; in dozen states, 277. 
Prejudices, overcoming, 281. 
Prevention of winter killing, 264. 
Preparing soil for potatoes, 199. 
Prevention of waste on farm, 252. 
Progress in agricultural science, XXXVII, 279. 
Proper phyiscal condition of soil, 50. 
Quantity of seed, XXIV, 270. 

Quick, Herbert, in World's Work, on Campbell system, 287. 
Rain crust, and how broken up, 113. 
Rainfall, not lack of, 125. 
Rains, difference in, 131. 
Raising standard of living, 294. 
Rapidity of evaporation, 124, 
Results declared to be remarkable, 289. 
Roberts, Prof, Isaac P., on fertility of land, 94. 
Root development, in loose soil, 67; in firm soil, 65; with shallow cultivation, 198; 

deep cultivation, 200; in all soils, 164, 166. 
Roots and soil, magnified, 201. 
Root system, value of healthy, 71. 
Rotation, experiments in, 77. 
Salvation of the dry belt, 287. 
Saving of the moisture, 141. 
Scientific condition for grain, 267. 
Seed and planting, potatoes, 201. 
Seed bed, making with packer, 66. 
Seed corn, testing, 172. 
Seeding, for alfalfa, 227; alfalfa on new breaking, 230; effect of different ispths, 

187; proper depth of, 185; with three kinds of drills, 182. 
Seed, quantity of, 270; too much per acre, 271; amount of, 163. 
Seeking new arid plants, XXVI, 232. 
Semi-arid region, advantages of, 130. 
Setting of trees, 207. 
Shade and Shelter, trees, 204. 
Shallow cultivation, root development, 198 
Shallow vs. deep cultivation, 138. 
Size of disk to use, 42. 
Small farms, better farming, V, 28. 
Sod, breaking for fall wheat, 56; new prairie land, 54. 



320 INDEX. 

Soil, after packing and harrowing, 63; as packer leaves it, 60; as the plcw leaves 
it, 46; cultivation of, 137; shallow vs. deep cultivation, 138; time of, 140; 
fertility, XII, 99, 52; a condition of, 100; saving, 101; experts changing views 
on, 102; what it is, 104; elements of fertility, 105; physical condition of, 91,^ 
49, 186, 239; time to work, 94; perfect conditions, 96; preparing for potatoes, 
199; summer treatment of, 177, 189; surface harrowed, 47; water stored in for 
irrigation, 236; blowing of, 178: of semi-arid region, 130; conditions, 143; time 
of cultivation, 144. 

Soil Mulch or dust blanket, XXIX, 247; before rain, 248; after rain, 249. 

Soil culture, correspondence course in, 311; domain of, 276; where developed, 276; 
results, 277; increase of products under, 259. 

Sorghum by thorough cultivation, 257. 

Specialty in farming, 19. 

Spring, early disking in, 177; early work, 84; plowing old land, 45; treatment of 
soil, 177, 189. 

Spring wheat, harrowing, 186; growing, 176. 

Stooling of grain, XXXIII, 266; cause of, 267; explained, 180. 

Sub- irrigation, 238. 

Sub-surface packing, IX, 58; packer illustrated, 64; mission of the packer, 59; soil 
as packer leaves it, 60; rolling vs. sub-surface packing, 63; roots in firm soil, 
65; making seed bed, 66;- ideal condition of soil, 69; effect of packer, 73. 

Sugar beet growing, XXIV, 218; thinning beets, 218; forty-acre field, 219; under 
irrigation, 220; modern factory, 221; by Campbell method, 223; without irri- 
gation, 224. 

Summer culture, X, 75; experiments in rotation, 77; results of tiUing, 79; how done, 
82; early spring work, 84; of universal application, 88; in detail, 177. 

Tilling, results of, 79; how summer tilling done, 82. 

Time for quick work, 145. 

Time, of cultivation, 140, 144; of harrowing, 187. 

Tools for the farm, XLIII, 302. 

True soil mtilch, 250. 

Trees, on the farm, XXIII, 204; for shade and shelter, 204; practical work with, 
205; ground for, 206; setting of, 207; peach, 5 months old, 207; late cultivation, 
209; causes of failure with, 211; peach 17 months old, 207; Illinois experience 
with, 211; Kansas experience with, 213; shade results, 214; ehn, 17 months 
old, 215; method of planting, 241. 

Value of machinery per acre, 30. 

Water holding capacity of the soil, XIII, 107; water contents of soil, 62; soil con- 
ditions, 109; stored in the soil, 119; stored in soil for irrigation, 236. 

Weeds, keep clean from field, 178; problem of, 159. 

Weeder, the, 187. 

Theat, XXI, 175; crop on Pomeroy farm, 193; eastern Colorado, 190; spring, 176; 
in three stages of growth, 179; in Wyoming, 191; germination in two soUs, 194; 
growth of listed, 184; harrowing spring, 186; harvesting fifty years ago, 188; 
listing of, 163; the pioneer's money crop, 194; winter, 191. 

Whitney, Prof. Milton, on fertility, 102; on chemistry, 94; en evaporation, 124; 
on soils, 132. 

Wmter killing autumn sown grain, XXXII, 263; prevention of 264, 

Winter wheat, 191. 

World-vride fame of this work, XXXIX, 286, 

World's Work, on Campbell system, 287. 

Wyoming wheat, 191. 



WAY 



